Charles River Laboratories (Massachusetts) Completes Acquisition of Majority Ownership of Vital River

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of a 75% ownership of Vital River, the premier commercial provider of research models and related services in China, and a licensee of Charles River for the last ten years. James C. Foster, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Charles River Laboratories, commented, “Through this acquisition, Charles River will provide high-quality research models and associated services to the emerging China market for drug discovery and development. We expect demand for research models in China to significantly increase over the next several years as drug development initiatives in academia, government and biopharmaceutical companies expand. Charles River intends to set the standards for research models in China, the third-largest pharmaceutical market in the world, and play a leading role in this emerging opportunity.”