Charles River Laboratories, Inc.

Charles River Laboratories, Inc. is an American corporation specializing in a broad spectrum of pre-clinical and clinical laboratory services for the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries. It is the world's largest supplier of animals for laboratory experimentation and also supplies a range of biomedical products and research and development outsourcing services for use in the pharmaceutical industry.

The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered at 251 Ballardvale Street, Wilmington, Massachusetts, in the Boston metropolitan area. The current chief executive officer of Charles River Laboratories is James C. Foster.

With over 8000 employees, the company has facilities in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Controversy
In the UK, Charles River has been the target of animal rights activists. It ran Shamrock Farm in West Sussex, which closed in 2000 following a 15-month campaign by animal rights campaigners. It also has a large site at Manston Road, Margate, Kent where it breeds chickens, rabbits, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs and gerbils.