GRAIL , a medical start - up that developed as an offshoot of genome engineering giant Illumina , has closed a series B funding round of $ 900 ##m . The company uses liquid biopsies and blood samples to develop early disease detection technology while using current Illumina technology . GRAIL had already raised $ 100 million and the start - up is still aiming for a total of at least $ 1bn , with reports of a $ 1.8bn target . The initial investment has come from several significant sources , including Arch Venture Partners and Johnson and Johnson , while Illumina has already announced plans to give the company more independence .
GRAIL, a medical start-up that developed as an offshoot of genome sequencing giant Illumina, has closed a series B funding round of $900m. The company uses liquid biopsies and blood testing to develop early cancer detection technology while using current Illumina equipment. GRAIL had already raised $100m and the start-up is still aiming for a total of at least $1bn, with reports of a $1.8bn target. The initial investment has come from several significant sources, including Arch Venture Partners and Johnson and Johnson, while Illumina has already announced plans to give the company more independence.