Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. is an early-stage contract research company, which provides research models required in the research and development of new drugs, devices, and therapies. It operates through the following segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions. The Research Models and Services segment consists of the commercial production and sale of research models, research products, and the provision of services related to the maintenance and monitoring of research models and the management of the clients? research operations. The Discovery and Safety Assessment segment offers integrated drug discovery services directed at the identification, screening, and selection of a lead compound for drug development and offers safety assessment services, including bioanalysis, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and pathology. The Manufacturing Support segment consists of Microbial Solutions, which provides in vitro (non-animal) lot-release testing products, microbial detection products, and species identification services, Biologics Solutions, which performs specialized testing of biologics as well as contract development and manufacturing, and Avian Vaccine Services, which supplies specific-pathogen-free chicken eggs and chickens. The company was founded by Henry L. Foster in 1947 and is headquartered in Wilmington, MA.
