Illumina's Grail Announcement 'Underwhelmed' This Analyst

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN)'s announcement of its "GRAIL" has Avondale Partners Sr. Vice President Sung Ji Nam, feeling "a bit underwhelmed" on Monday.

Avondale Partners maintained a Market Perform rating and a $175 price target for the firm on Monday after Illumina announced Sunday during an investor call its creation of GRAIL.

"We were admittedly a bit underwhelmed by the announcement, especially given the unusual time, but ILMN is also presenting at an investor conference today at 2 pm ET and could potentially have additional announcement in store," Nam commented.

GRAIL was formed to enable cancer screening through a basic blood test. The pan-cancer screening test is powered by Illumina sequencing technology, designed to specifically measure circulating nucleic acids in blood.

Illumina's former Chief Medical Officer and NCI Director, as well as a Director of GRAIL Dr. Richard Klausner stated, "The holy grail in oncology has been the search for biomarkers that could reliably signal the presence of cancer at an early stage. Illumina's sequencing technology now allows the detection of circulating nucleic acids originating in the cancer cells themselves, a superior approach that provides a direct rather than surrogate measurement."

Avondale Partners has adjusted its estimates for the company according to its guidance, while keeping its $175 price target.

"We think there is still significant technology and development risk associated with GRAIL," said Nam.

The stock recently traded at $165.08.