TSCP Portfolio Companies Vector Laboratories and Absolute Biotech Announce Merger, Strengthening Support for Life Science Customers

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.

About Thompson Street Capital Partners

Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP) is a St. Louis-based private equity firm focused on investing in founder-led middle market businesses. We have acquired more than 200 companies in the Healthcare & Life Science Services, Software & Technology Services and Business Services & Engineered Products sectors and have managed more than $4.5 billion since being founded in 2000. TSCP partners with management teams to increase value by accelerating growth, both organically and via complementary acquisitions.

About Vector Labs

Vector Laboratories is a trusted reagent and critical component manufacturing partner, empowering biopharma, life science tools, and diagnostics companies to accelerate their ability to provide value to their customers and ultimately address pressing healthcare challenges. Vector Laboratories continues to expand its portfolio of products and services, from protein and glycan detection and visualization to bioconjugation linker and dye technologies. Building on 45+ years of experience and an unparalleled reputation for a culture of service, proven products, and incomparable technical partnership, Vector Laboratories continues to invest in areas that can support processes from discovery and development to manufacturing and commercialization. For more information, visit the Vector Laboratories website.

About Absolute Biotech

Absolute Biotech specializes in antibody reagents, kits, and services, adding value to existing antibodies through annotation, validation, sequencing, engineering, and recombinant manufacturing. The company unites multiple antibody-centric brands to offer customers worldwide the full breadth of antibody-related products, services, and expertise for research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications. With a mission to serve as "antibody curators" globally, Absolute Biotech delivers unique and absolutely defined reagents that empower scientists. To learn more, visit the Absolute Biotech website.