(NewsNation) — Biotech company Grail Inc. says it mistakenly told about 400 people they may have developed cancer.
The company said on Friday that the letters sent out mistakenly were the result of a software issue, and “in no way related to or caused by an incorrect Galleri test result,” according to Reuters.
Galleri, Grail’s flagship cancer detection test, is designed to detect more than 50 types of cancers before symptoms appear.
The test requires a simple blood draw and has been called “revolutionary” and “cutting edge” by British and U.S. health officials, according to the Financial Times.
A total of 408 patients were erroneously informed that the test had detected a sign in their blood potentially indicating cancer, according to an internal company document reviewed by the Financial Times.
Grail said it reached out to impacted patients immediately, adding that no patient health information was breached due to the issue. The software issue has also been resolved, the company said on Friday.