Aims to further strengthen and broaden its portfolio in order to drive long-term growth, greater efficiency and operational excellence.
Charles River Laboratories is divesting of its contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) arm by selling three of its production sites: two in the US (Tennessee, Maryland), and one in the UK, following a strategic review in 2025.
Its CDMO business involves advanced therapy production for gene-modified cell therapies, as well as gene therapies including viral vectors and plasmid DNA.
James Foster, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We have decided to divest these assets after carefully evaluating our core capabilities and determining those that will drive the most synergistic growth with our broader portfolio going forward.
“We believe these actions will refine and further strengthen our portfolio, and will also enhance shareholder value by executing on our plans to drive long-term growth, greater efficiency, and operational excellence.”
We have decided to divest these assets after carefully evaluating our core capabilities and determining those that will drive the most synergistic growth with our broader portfolio going forward"
This business alongside its Cell Solutions venture, also in line for divestment, generated Charles River $143 million in 2025. This includes $117 million from its Manufacturing Solutions and $26 million from the company’s Research Models and Services (RMS).
The two divestments are expected to close in Q2 of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
Separately, Charles River also plans to sell some of its European discovery services, namely its in vitro drug discovery assets. These include medicinal chemistry and structural biology services and certain pharmacology services, primarily in oncology, neuroscience, immunology, as well as four advanced cell biology sites.
As Charles River looks beyond the CDMO model, this month saw Recipharm sell its manufacturing site in Yavne, Israel to Scinai Immunotherapeutics, while fellow CDMO Fujifilm Biotechnologies chose to expand its biomanufacturing capabilities in the UK through a £400 million investment.
In January, Samsung Biologics paid GSK $280 million to establish its first manufacturing site in the US, bolstering its onshoring efforts. Sited in Rockville, Maryland, the plant houses two cGMP manufacturing plants with a combined 60,000 litre capacity. Future production is planned to manufacture critical biologic medicines.
