A Blood Test That Screens for 50+ Cancers Just Moved Closer to Real-World Use. Here's What It Means for Grail Investors.
Despite a significant setback, Grail's Galleri test still has a pathway to widespread adoption.
A Blood Test That Screens for 50+ Cancers Just Moved Closer to Real-World Use. Here's What It Means for Grail Investors.
Overview
Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test company Grail (NASDAQ: GRAL) is one of the most fascinating mid-cap healthcare stocks on the market. Usually, when a company misses a primary endpoint in a landmark trial, it's time to fold the hand and focus on the next one. The reality is that many investors did just that, and the stock is down more than 30% in 2026 as I write. Still, there's a case building for its MCED test to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and coverage from medical insurers. Here's what you need to know before investing in the stock.
The Galleri MCED test is intended to detect more than 50 cancers at an early stage, and in doing so, improve patient outcomes while significantly reducing treatment costs -- late-stage cancers (III and IV) are far more costly and invasive to treat. To demonstrate Galleri's efficacy, Grail conducted two high-profile studies: a 35,900-person study in North America (PATHFINDER 2) and a three-year, 142,000-person trial in England (NHS-Galleri) with England's National Health Service (NHS).
Details
Unfortunately, Grail had bad news for investors in February when it released top-line results from the NHS and outlined that it had missed its primary endpoint of demonstrating "statistically significant Stage III-IV reduction" in its trial. The idea is that, by detecting cancer at early stages (I-II), the tested group should see a reduction in Stage III-IV cancers compared to the control group.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.
