CEO Jean-François Brepson on Scaling a CRO, and Selling to Charles River | E59 [Sponsored]

Founded in 2010, the Institut Pasteur spinout PathoQuest sold to top CRO Charles River for $70M this year, a product of years of collaboration and stepwise investments.Jean‑François tells us how the exit unfolded, as well as the importance of biosafety and CMC as pharma and biotech outsource heavily and cell and gene therapies mature. We also cover how animal testing is disappearing from CMC and how France must nurture its biotech ecosystem.---For transparency, this episode has been sponsored by PathoQuest.---⭐️ ABOUT THE SPEAKERJean-François has more than 20 years of pharma leadership under his belt. Before his ten years at PathoQuest, he was a Senior Vice-President in charge of Ipsen’s GI-oncology and endocrinology franchise.He has an engineering degree and a master’s degree in Foreign Trade.🔗 LINKS MENTIONEDCRL acquires PathoQuest (2026) — https://pathoquest.com/press-release-pathoquest-to-join-charles-river-laboratories-2/Werner Lanthaler 🇦🇹 | Biopharma AI, CDMO, Antibody Optimization | E48 — https://flot.bio/episode/werner-lanthaler-biopharma-ai/Charles River Laboratories and PathoQuest Expand Strategic Biologics Partnership (2018) — https://ir.criver.com/news-releases/news-release-details/charles-river-laboratories-and-pathoquest-expand-strategicCharles River and PathoQuest validate viral safety assay (2023) — https://ir.criver.com/news-releases/news-release-details/charles-river-and-pathoquest-announce-publication-head-headPhilipp Baaske, NanoTemper 🇩🇪 | Bootstrapping in Biotech | E29 — https://flot.bio/episode/philipp-baaske-nanotemper-boostrapping-biotech/Solexa acquisition by Illumina (2007) — https://investor.illumina.com/news/press-release-details/2006/Illumina-Signs-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-Solexa/default.aspxPathoQuest US lab opens in Wayne, PA (2022) — https://pathoquest.com/pathoquest-announce-the-opening-of-its-new-u-s-facility/Thomas Ybert, DNA Script 🇫🇷 | DNA Printing & Synthesis | E27 — https://flot.bio/episode/thomas-ybert-dna-script-dna-printing/Pascal Touchon 🇫🇷 | Cell Therapy, Jeito, Kymriah | E49 — https://flot.bio/episode/pascal-touchon-jeito/First FDA-approved CAR-T — https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-receives-first-ever-fda-approval-car-t-cell-therapy-kymriahtm-ctl019-children-and-young-adults-b-cell-all-refractory-or-has-relapsed-least-twiceMarc de Garidel, Abivax 🇫🇷 | Ulcerative Colitis, Inflammation | E46— https://flot.bio/episode/marc-de-garidel-abivax-ulcerative-colitis-inflammation/📜 TRANSCRIPTRead the full transcript here: https://flot.bio/episode/jean-francois-brepson-pathoquest-cmc/💸 DONATEWe welcome donations from individuals and businesses to support our podcast and allow us to create even more content: https://www.paypal.me/PhilipHemme⭐️ SPONSORSHIPReady to amplify your brand to influential leaders in biotech and biopharma? Contact nick@flot.bio and unlock sponsorship opportunities in our podcasts!🫶 FOLLOW US