About Charles River Laboratories
Charles River Laboratories is one of the world's most recognised early-stage contract research organisations, providing the foundational scientific services that pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies rely on to move candidates from discovery through to regulatory submission. Founded in 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts, the company began as a supplier of purpose-bred laboratory animals and has since grown into a global CRO spanning drug discovery, safety assessment, and manufacturing support.
Early-Stage Research & Preclinical Services
The company's core strength lies in preclinical and non-clinical research. Charles River operates one of the largest networks of Good Laboratory Practice-accredited safety assessment facilities globally, conducting toxicology, pathology, and pharmacokinetic studies that satisfy regulatory requirements across the US, Europe, and Asia. Its research models business, which traces directly to its founding purpose, remains a significant operation, supplying inbred and outbred rodent models, immunocompromised strains, and specialised models to research institutions and industry clients worldwide.
Discovery Services & Biologics Testing
Beyond preclinical safety, Charles River has expanded substantially into integrated drug discovery services, offering medicinal chemistry, in vitro biology, and DMPK capabilities that allow clients to outsource entire lead-optimisation programmes. The company's biologics and pharmaceutical product testing division provides release testing, stability studies, and microbial safety testing for biological drugs and advanced therapies, a segment that has grown considerably as the industry has shifted toward large-molecule and cell and gene therapy pipelines.
Headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRL, Charles River employs tens of thousands of scientists and support staff across more than 100 sites in approximately 20 countries. Its scale means it serves virtually every major pharmaceutical company alongside hundreds of smaller biotechnology firms and academic research centres.
The company's positioning as a single-source partner for early-stage research, from target validation through to IND-enabling studies and into manufacturing quality testing, gives it a distinctive role in the global drug development supply chain.
Further information is available at criver.com.
