FDA advisers back Grail's cancer test safety, narrowly endorse efficacy

Key facts

• FDA advisers narrowly endorsed the efficacy of Grail's Galleri multi-cancer blood test.
• The panel voted 6-4 for the test's effectiveness.
• Advisers voted 7-2 that the benefits of the Galleri test outweigh its risks.
• FDA staff had previously found no major concerns with the test's safety.

Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration have narrowly endorsed the efficacy of Grail's Galleri multi-cancer blood test, following earlier findings by FDA staff that raised no major concerns about its safety. The panel voted 6-4 in favor of the test's effectiveness and 7-2 that its benefits outweigh the risks.

Grail's Galleri test aims to detect multiple types of cancer from a single blood sample. The company, a unit of biotechnology giant Illumina, has been seeking regulatory approval to market the test more broadly in the United States.