Charles River Laboratories
 | |
Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: CRL S&P 400 Component |
| Industry | Pharmaceutical/medical devices |
| Founded | 1947 (1947) |
| Headquarters | Wilmington, Massachusetts |
Key people | James C. Foster (CEO) |
| Website | www.criver.com |
Charles River Laboratories, Inc., is an American corporation specializing in a variety of pre-clinical and clinical laboratory services for the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries.[1] It also supplies assorted biomedical products and research and development outsourcing services for use in the pharmaceutical industry. According to its website, its customers include every major pharmaceutical and biotechnology company in the world, major academic institutions and government research centers.[2]
Contents
1 History
2 Mergers
3 Animal rights issues
4 See also
5 Notes
History
Charles River was founded in 1947 by Henry Foster, a young veterinarian who purchased thousands of rat cages from a Virginia farm and set up a one-man laboratory in Boston overlooking the Charles River. In an effort to fulfill the regional need for laboratory animal models, he bred, fed and cared for the animals and personally delivered them to local researchers. In the last six decades, this one-man laboratory has evolved into a worldwide network. The organisation is constantly expanding their portfolio, and organisational growth has become a continuous strategic effort in anticipating tomorrow’s drug development needs.[3]
The chairman and chief executive officer is James C. Foster, the son of founder Henry Foster.
Mergers
In October 2003, Charles River Laboratories merged with Inveresk, a research company based in the United Kingdom. The company was known then as Charles River Laboratories. Inveresk specialised in clinical research and pre-clinical testing, and their main facilities are in Edinburgh, Scotland.[citation needed] In late 2009, Charles River sold its Clinical Services Division in Edinburgh to Quotient Bioresearch.[citation needed]
In 2010, Charles River Laboratories attempted to acquire WuXi PharmaTech, a China-based contract research organization, but the offer was withdrawn when the deal faced opposition from several large Charles River investors, including Relational Investors, JANA Partners, and Neuberger Berman.[citation needed] Proxy advisory firm RiskMetrics had also recommended that Charles River's shareholders vote against the proposed deal.[citation needed]
In July 2015, the company announced it would acquire Celsis International for $212 million.[4]
In January 2016, the company announced it was set to acquire WIL Research for approximately $585 million in cash.[5] In June, the company announced it would acquire Blue Stream Laboratories.[6]
In August 2017, the business announced it would acquire Brains On-Line.[7]
In January 2018, the company announced it would acquire KWS BioTest for up to £18 million ($24.4 million).[8]In February of the same year, Charles River announced it would acquire MPI Research for approximately $800 million in cash.[9] The transaction was completed on April 3, 2018.[10]
Animal rights issues
The company has been the target of animal rights activists in the UK and US. It owned Shamrock Farm in England's West Sussex which closed in 2000 following a 15-month campaign by animal rights activists.[11][12]
In 2007, two monkeys at the company’s Sparks, Nevada, facility had their fingers amputated after they were caught in the wiring of their cages while being moved, and a third monkey suffered a cut to its tail.[13]
In 2008, 32 cynomolgus primates, also known as crab-eating macaques, died of overheating at the company's Sparks, Nevada, laboratory after a climate system failure. PETA filed a complaint with the USDA over the incident. The following year, a monkey died at the same facility after being left in their cage as it was going through a hot cage washer. Charles River was fined $14,500 for the two incidents. The company subsequently closed their Sparks facility.[13][14]
PETA owns $2,000 worth of shares in the company, enough to introduce formal resolutions regarding animal care during the company’s annual shareholder meeting.[15]
See also
- List of S&P 400 companies
Notes
^ Christensen, Carl Roland. Business Policy: Text and Cases. R.D. Irwin, 1982, p. 54.
^ "Charles River At A Glance" Archived January 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Charles River Laboratories.
^ "About Us". criver.com. Retrieved January 3, 2019..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ "Charles River Buys Celsis for $212M". GEN.
^ "Charles River Labs to Acquire WIL Research for $585M". GEN.
^ "Charles River Laboratories Acquires Blue Stream Laboratories". Retrieved June 28, 2016.
^ "Brains On-Line acquired by Charles River Laboratories". Bioanalysis Zone. August 16, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
^ "Charles River Labs Acquires KWS BioTest". GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
^ "Charles River to acquire MPI Research for $800M, posts 10% 2017 revenue growth". fiercebiotech.com. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
^ "Charles River Laboratories Completes the Acquisition of MPI Research". ir.criver.com (Press release). April 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
^ Barnett, Anthony; Ridley, Yvonne (May 8, 1999). "Monkey farm 'death trail' exposed". The Guardian. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
^ "Protest site monkey farm to close". Coventry Evening Telegraph. March 11, 2000. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
^ ab "Ghastly Slaughter of Research Monkeys Prompts Calls for Oversight". Fox News. Associated Press. March 17, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
^ Sonner, Scott (December 14, 2012). "Animal deaths spark call for fining of Nevada, other testing labs". Las Vegas Review Journal. Associated Press. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
^ Cooper, Warren (December 26, 2012). "PETA takes on Merck, Pfizer animal testing policies". NJN Publishing. NJ.com. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
