PathoQuest SAS and its strategic partner Charles River Laboratories have established a US subsidiary, also called PathoQuest, and will construct a sequencing-based testing laboratory at Charles River’s site in Wayne, PA.
The establishment of this lab will enhance the strategic partnership between the two companies and will also expand their capabilities for rapid viral safety testing of biologics, notably advanced therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs) and vaccines.
The relationship between PathoQuest and Charles River will offer North American biotechnology companies an NGS testing facility in the U.S. that identifies adventitious agents using PathoQuest’s in vitro testing approach. The sequencing approach can also be used for the genetic characterisation of cell lines.
Construction of PathoQuest’s office and laboratory facility is scheduled to begin in late 2020 with NGS services expected to be available in 2021. Once complete, the lab will be aligned with PathoQuest’s existing lab in Paris and offer testing that adheres to CGMP in accordance with FDA guidelines. It will offer several testing services performed within the same facility, enabling support for biologics development and quality control testing.
Charles River’s Wayne facility supports the development of biological products, including cell line characterisation, viral safety, and viral clearance studies. The company has also made direct investment in PathoQuest to help fund the establishment of the facility and to support the expansion of its testing platform into North America.
“The addition of a PathoQuest facility at the Wayne site highlights our commitment to addressing our clients’ dynamic needs. PathoQuest’s NGS-based testing solution provides a rapid, reliable and comprehensive testing solution, and now, clients will have it at their fingertips through this expanded partnership,” said Birgit Girshick, Corporate Executive Vice President, Discovery and Safety Assessment, Biologics Testing Solutions, and Avian Vaccine Services, Charles River
“Our NGS-based approach provides a state-of-the-art quality control testing solution for biopharmaceutical quality assurance and production managers. Our new facility in Wayne will create additional opportunities to integrate with Charles River’s service offerings and expose more pharmaceutical and biotechnology groups to our technology, furthering the rapid expansion of our business,” said Jean-Francois Brepson, President and CEO, PathoQuest.