GRAL Stock Slumps 48% After Hours As Trial For Cancer Test Fails To Show Reduction In Late-Stage Diagnoses

The trial did not show a statistically significant reduction in Stage III-IV cancer diagnoses, the company said.

• GRAIL, however, highlighted a favorable trend toward fewer Stage III-IV cancers in a pre-specified group of 12 deadly cancers.
• The company said that additional analyses are now underway to further understand the data.
• The detailed results are expected to be announced mid-2026.

Shares of healthcare company GRAIL Inc. (GRAL) slumped 48% after hours on Thursday after the company said that its trial evaluating annual multi-cancer screening with the Galleri test in England's National Health Service did not meet its primary endpoint.

The study was conducted over three years in more than 140,000 participants aged 50 to 77, and was aimed at demonstrating population-level impact through the reduction of late stage cancer diagnoses and increased cancer detection rate within the NHS.

However, the trial did not show a statistically significant Stage III-IV reduction, the company said. The company, however, highlighted a favorable trend toward fewer Stage III-IV cancers in a pre-specified group of 12 deadly cancers including anus, bladder, colorectal, esophagus, head and neck, liver/bile duct, lung, lymphoma, myeloma/plasma cell neoplasm, ovary, pancreas, and stomach.

The group of cancers together represent approximately two-thirds of cancer deaths in England and the United States, as per GRAIL.

Adding Galleri to standard of care screening resulted in a substantial and clinically meaningful reduction in Stage IV diagnoses compared with standard of care alone across the pre-specified group of 12 deadly cancers, the company said.

Further, annual screening with the Galleri test plus standard of care screening resulted in a four-fold improvement in the overall cancer detection rate compared to standard of care screening alone in England for breast, colorectal, cervical and high risk lung cancer, it noted.

The company said that additional analyses are now underway to further understand the data. The detailed results are expected to be announced mid-2026.

Q4 Earnings

The company on Thursday reported a fourth quarter total revenue increase of 14% to $43.6 million, compared to an analyst estimate of $43.48 million, according to data from Fiscal AI. Net loss, meanwhile, came in at $99.2 million.  

GRAIL ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities totaling $904.4 million. 

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around GRAL shares rose from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘extremely high’ levels.

GRAL stock has gained 93% over the past 12 months. 

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