Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP), a private equity firm based in St. Louis, today announced the merger of its portfolio companies, Vector Laboratories and Absolute Biotech. The strategic move aims to advance the combined platform’s position as a comprehensive supplier of both custom-engineered and catalog antibodies and sophisticated bioconjugation linkers and as a leader in providing deep bioconjugation expertise. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Vector Laboratories is a manufacturer of reagents and critical components for the development and production of life sciences tools, diagnostics, and clinical stage biotherapeutics.
“This merger represents an exciting opportunity for Vector Laboratories to expand its position as a valuable partner to biopharma and life sciences companies,” said Lisa V. Sellers, PhD, CEO of Vector Laboratories. “Our customers – especially our life science tools, diagnostic, and pharma customers – place a premium on a local presence, with needs ranging from timely technical and sales support to faster delivery of products and services. The merger extends our manufacturing and distribution footprint from multiple sites in the US to the UK and Europe to better serve our customers across all three market segments.”
Absolute Biotech is a global manufacturer and supplier, serving customers with antibody reagents, kits, and services to support annotation, validation, sequencing, engineering, and recombinant antibody manufacturing. With a vision to make engineered recombinant antibodies accessible to all, the company leverages its comprehensive antibody offering to advance the availability of highly defined reagents.
“By joining forces, we are well-positioned to provide comprehensive solutions that streamline the drug development process for our customers,” Heather Holemon, PhD, CEO of Absolute Biotech, said. “We’re thrilled about the strategic synergy this merger brings and look forward to collaborating with Vector Laboratories on innovative solutions for researchers advancing antibodies towards clinical trials.”
With manufacturing capabilities that cater to small- to large-scale projects, the combined platform will offer a holistic approach to supporting customers along their drug development, diagnostic, and life science tool development journeys. The expanded capabilities aim to reduce development time and internal resource commitments for biopharma customers and channel partners. Additionally, for pharma and biotech clients working on biotherapeutics, particularly antibody-drug conjugates, suppliers who can also provide expert guidance are crucial to ensure success.
“The merger will integrate Absolute Biotech’s validated, off-the-shelf and custom antibodies with Vector’s best-in-class detection and visualization reagents to provide an array of protein detection and bioconjugation solutions that support assay developers in translational and pre-clinical research,” said JC Wetzel, Managing Director at Thompson Street Capital Partners. “We’re excited about the complementary strengths the two organizations bring to the table and look forward to continuing to support researchers advancing groundbreaking antibodies into clinical applications.”
Dr. Sellers will transition to CEO of the combined organization, Vector Laboratories, Inc. Dr. Holemon will continue to drive growth and competitive advantage as the new Chief Strategy Officer, a critical role in shaping the future direction of the organization and ensuring that the company remains focused on cutting-edge science.
