In 1988, Charles River purchased Specific Pathogen Antigen Free Avian Services (SPAFAS) and serologic diagnostic services Merck, Sharp, and Dohme.
Between 1996 and 2000, the company acquired Endosafe, Inc. and Sierra Biomedical.
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. In late 2009, Charles River sold its Clinical Services Division in Edinburgh to Quotient Bioresearch.
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Laboratories attempted to acquire WuXi PharmaTech, a China-based contract research organization, but the offer was withdrawn when the deal faced opposition from several large Charles River investors, including Relational Investors, JANA Partners, and Neuberger Berman. The proxy advisory firm RiskMetrics had also recommended that Charles River's shareholders vote against the proposed deal.
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From 2008 to 2013, Charles River acquires several companies including NewLab Bioquality AG, MIR Preclinical Services, Piedmont Research Center, LLC, Cerebricon, Ltd., Accugenix, and Vital River, allowing the company to expand their research models and services portfolio to drug development and discovery markets in China.
The acquisitions of Argenta and BioFocus in 2014 allowed Charles River to establish itself as a full-service, early-stage contract research organization with integrated in vitro and in vivo capabilities from target discovery through pre-clinical development.
In July 2015, the company announced it would acquire Celsis International for $212 million.
In 2016, the company announced it was set to acquire WIL Research for approximately $585 million in cash and Blue Stream Laboratories.
In August 2017, the business announced it would acquire Brains On-Line.
In January 2018, the company announced it would acquire KWS BioTest for up to £18 million ($24.4 million). In February of the same year, Charles River announced it would acquire MPI Research for approximately $800 million in cash. The transaction was completed on April 3, 2018.
In February 2019, the company announced it would acquire Citoxlab for €448 million in cash (approximately $500 million), including the former acquisitions of the French company, AccelLAB, Atlanbio and Solvo Biotechnology. The transaction was completed on April 29. In December of the same year the business announced it would acquire HemaCare for approximately $380 million in cash.
In August 2020, the company announced it would acquire Cellero for $38 million in cash.
In January 2021, the company announced it would acquire Distributed Bio, Inc., an antibody discovery business.
In February 2021, Charles River announced it would acquire Cognate BioServices, Inc. for $875 million.
In March 2021, Charles River announced the acquisition of Retrogenix for $48 million.
In May 2021, Charles River announced the acquisition of Vigene Biosciences, a gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), for $292.5 million.
In October 2021, a Japanese subsidiary of Charles River was acquired by Jackson Laboratory for $63M.
In April 2022, the company announced it would acquire Explora BioLabs.
In January 2023, the business announced it would acquire SAMDI Tech, Inc.
In February 2026, the CDMO business arm including sites in Rockville, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; Northridge, California; and Keele, United Kingdom was sold to GI Partners and formed as a new company Rose BioSolutions. The discovery services were sold to IQVIA for $145 million.
