Healthcare Specialist SHS Capital agreed to sell PathoQuest to strategic buyer Charles River Laboratories

Healthcare Specialist SHS Capital agreed to sell PathoQuest to strategic buyer Charles River Laboratories

• Healthcare specialist private equity fund SHS Capital and its co-investors have agreed to sell PathoQuest SAS, the leader in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based quality control for biopharmaceuticals, to Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.
• The transaction brings together PathoQuest’s proprietary NGS capabilities with Charles River’s global scale to accelerate the adoption of advanced, animal-free biotesting
• The acquisition marks an important milestone in PathoQuest’s development and supports its next phase of international growth

Tübingen / Paris, 13 January 2026

Healthcare Specialist SHS Capital agreed to sell its portfolio company PathoQuest, a specialist in NGS-based quality control assays for biopharmaceuticals, to the strategic buyer Charles River Laboratories, a leading global provider of products and services that support drug discovery and non-clinical development.

Founded in Paris, PathoQuest has established itself as a reference player in NGS-based viral safety and genetic characterisation testing for biopharmaceuticals. Its proprietary iDTECT® platform enables highly sensitive, comprehensive and GMP-compliant quality control, addressing the growing complexity of biologic modalities and increasing regulatory expectations.

Over recent years, the company has further developed its technology platform, strengthened operational structures and expanded its commercial focus towards late-stage and commercial biopharmaceuticals where GMP compliance is critical. During this period, PathoQuest also broadened its international footprint, including the establishment and certification of a second GMP-compliant site in the United States, enabling it to better serve global biotech and biopharma customers.

The strategic combination with Charles River builds on a long-standing partnership and reflects the increasing role of NGS-based methods in biopharmaceutical safety testing. By combining PathoQuest’s specialised NGS expertise with Charles River’s global reach, regulatory capabilities and customer base, the transaction aims to further scale advanced, data-rich and animal-free testing approaches across the lifecycle of biopharmaceuticals.

“PathoQuest has continuously evolved its technology, organisation and international presence to meet the growing demands of the biopharmaceutical market,” said Jean-François Brepson, CEO of PathoQuest. “Becoming part of Charles River represents a strong strategic step to accelerate our mission and make NGS-based biosafety testing the global standard. We thank SHS for supporting us over the years to become the global partner of choice in our industry.”

“PathoQuest’s NGS-based capabilities are highly complementary to Charles River’s biopharmaceutical service portfolio,” said Kerstin Dolph, Senior Vice President Manufacturing at Charles River Laboratories. “As biologic modalities become more complex, our clients increasingly require comprehensive, highly sensitive and scalable quality control solutions. This acquisition strengthens our ability to support customers globally and to help advance modern, data-driven and animal-free testing approaches across the lifecycle of biopharmaceuticals.”

“This transaction reflects the successful development of PathoQuest over recent years,” said Sascha Alilovic, Managing Partner at SHS Capital. “Together with our co-investors, SHS supported the company in strengthening its operational foundation, expanding into the US with GMP-compliant capabilities and sharpening its commercial positioning. Based on the successful strategy execution, PathoQuest was able to quadruple its revenues since SHS invested. The combination with Charles River provides a strong platform for the next phase of growth.”

About PathoQuest:

With over 20 peer-reviewed publications on NGS applications, PathoQuest is a leading expert in the application of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-compliant Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based biosafety testing. PathoQuest offers biopharmaceutical companies a game-changing genomic approach to ensuring the safety of biologics such as cell and gene therapy products, vaccines, and recombinant proteins, ultimately enabling a reduction in the time to market for these innovative treatments. PathoQuest’s technology combines NGS platforms with proprietary sample preparation and data analysis processes to bring novel solutions to the industry. PathoQuest, headquartered in Paris, France, with a US based site in Wayne (PA) has worked with over 100 of the leading biopharmaceutical companies globally.

About SHS Capital:

SHS Capital is a private equity provider founded in 1993 that invests in healthcare companies in Europe. The focus of the investments is on expansion financing, shareholder changes and succession situations. "Building European Healthcare Champions" is the investment philosophy according to which SHS finances and develops portfolio companies. The Tübingen-based investor takes both minority and majority stakes. The national and international investors in SHS funds include pension funds, funds of funds, foundations, family offices, strategic investors, entrepreneurs and the SHS management team. The equity or equity-like investment of the AIF is up to € 50 million. Volumes in excess of this can be realised with a network of co-investors. In its investment decisions, SHS attaches great importance to the consideration of ESG aspects and has therefore committed itself to the guidelines of the UN PRI. SHS is currently investing from its sixth fund, which was launched in 2022 and has a volume of ca. € 270 million.

More information at: www.shs-capital.eu

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PR contact:
Regine Hujer
SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement mbH
Bismarckstrasse 12
72072 Tuebingen
tuebingen@shs-capital.eu