Signs Agreement to Acquire K.F. (Cambodia) Ltd. to Further Strengthen DSA Supply Chain; Transaction Expected to be Accretive to Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share by Approximately $0.25 in 2026 and Approximately $0.60 in 2027 –

– Exercises Option to Acquire PathoQuest SAS to Enhance NAMs Capabilities for Rapid, In Vitro Manufacturing Quality-Control Testing –

– Names Former FDA Deputy Principal Commissioner Dr. Namandjé Bumpus as Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific and Innovation Officer –

– Providing Update on Recent Business Trends and Preliminary 2026 Outlook at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference –

 Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL)  announced two planned acquisitions of K.F. (Cambodia) Ltd. and PathoQuest SAS; the addition of Dr. Namandjé N. Bumpus as Chief Scientific and Innovation Officer; and is also providing an update on recent business trends and a preliminary 2026 outlook at the J.P. Morgan 44th Annual Healthcare Conference.

James C. Foster, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of Charles River Laboratories said, “As the biopharmaceutical industry evolves, we are committed to remaining a leader in regulatory required drug development solutions. We intend to accomplish this by pairing the best traditional testing methods to ensure patient safety with scientific advancements and innovative solutions to drive greater efficiency and success in our clients’ drug development programs. Today’s announcement of the planned acquisitions will help us accomplish these goals and invest in core areas of growth. The addition of K.F. will promote enhanced efforts to secure and safeguard our supply chain for traditional in vivo testing practices, while PathoQuest will further enable us to champion methodologies to reduce animal use, including through its in vitro, next-generation sequencing technologies. We are focused on continuing to lead the industry through advances in drug development, and the addition of Dr. Bumpus to drive our scientific innovation further supports this goal. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Bumpus, as well as the teams at PathoQuest and K.F., to help enhance our ability to serve our clients.”

“We believe we are well positioned as we move into 2026 with a clear strategic direction, actions underway to unlock shareholder value, and are cautiously optimistic that the positive signs in the biopharmaceutical demand environment will continue this year. To support this view, we are pleased with the recent improvement in DSA demand trends during the second half of 2025, including a fourth-quarter increase in the net book-to-bill,” Mr. Foster concluded.

Planned Acquisition of K.F. (Cambodia) Ltd.

Charles River Laboratories has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of K.F. (Cambodia) Ltd., a Cambodia-based provider of non-human primates (NHPs) for regulatory required biomedical, pharmaceutical, and toxicological research purposes.

Strategic Rationale

The planned K.F. acquisition will further strengthen and secure the supply chain for the Company’s Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) segment, and will also generate meaningful operating margin improvement through significant cost savings on NHP supply. Charles River has been a long-term supply partner of K.F., and over the last two years, K.F. supplied the Company with slightly above 30% of the globally sourced NHPs used in its DSA operations. The planned ownership of K.F. will enable greater oversight and operational control of a key supply source, including a continued focus on biosecurity, regulatory compliance, and audit practices. Including Noveprim, Charles River’s NHP supplier in Mauritius for which it owns a 90% controlling interest, the transaction will enable the Company to own and internally source most of its future, annual NHP supply requirements for the DSA segment.

Financial and Transaction Details

The total purchase price is expected to be approximately $510.0 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to close early in the first quarter of 2026. K.F. is not expected to generate meaningful third-party revenue going forward; however, the transaction is expected to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share by approximately $0.25 in 2026 and by approximately $0.60 in 2027. K.F. will become part of the Company’s DSA segment for the purpose of being vertically integrated into its DSA supply operations. Items excluded from non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to include all acquisition-related costs, which primarily include amortization, third-party advisory fees, and certain integration costs.

Proposed Acquisition of PathoQuest SAS

Charles River Laboratories has exercised its option to acquire the remaining 79% equity stake that it does not already own of PathoQuest SAS, a Paris, France-based provider of industry-leading next generation sequencing (NGS) solutions for manufacturing quality-control testing for biopharmaceutical companies.

Strategic Rationale

The proposed acquisition of PathoQuest will strengthen Charles River’s existing Biologics Testing capabilities by adding rapid, in vitro GMP and non-GMP testing solutions. PathoQuest’s innovative NGS approach supports Charles River’s Alternative Methods Advancement Project (AMAP) initiative by utilizing new approach methodologies (NAMs) to replace animal use in viral safety workflows, and also accelerates clients’ quality-control testing timelines and the overall biologics development process.

Since 2016, Charles River has partnered with PathoQuest to provide clients access to PathoQuest’s NGS solutions, which combine NGS platforms with proprietary sample preparation and bioinformatics processes for novel, animal-free viral safety testing, biopharmaceuticals characterization, and product release applications for the global biopharmaceutical industry. PathoQuest’s NGS solutions, including its iDTECT® quality-control assays, are powerful tests for identifying adventitious agents in a single, comprehensive analysis that minimizes false negatives while also providing a tool for the genetic characterization of cell lines and viral vectors. It offers biopharmaceutical companies a genomic approach to ensure the safety of biologics, such as monoclonal antibodies, cell and gene therapies, vaccines, and recombinant proteins, ultimately enhancing clients’ efficiency and speed to market for these innovative treatments. PathoQuest has two state-of-the-art, GMP-compliant testing laboratories in Paris, France and at Charles River’s Biologics Testing site in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Financial and Transaction Details

Following its initial investment in 2018, the Company has already acquired an approximate 21% equity stake in PathoQuest. The purchase price for the remaining 79% equity stake is expected to be €51.6 million (or approximately $60 million based on current exchange rates), subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

PathoQuest is expected to generate annual revenue of approximately $15 to $20 million in 2026. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Charles River’s 2026 or 2027 GAAP or non-GAAP financial results. PathoQuest will become part of the Company’s Biologics Testing business in the Manufacturing Solutions segment. Items excluded from non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to include all acquisition-related costs, which primarily include amortization of intangible assets, third-party advisory fees, and certain integration costs.

Addition of Dr. Bumpus as Chief Scientific and Innovation Officer

Charles River Laboratories has named Dr. Namandjé N. Bumpus as Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific and Innovation Officer. In this role, Dr. Bumpus will lead the Company’s scientific strategy, oversee research and development initiatives, and advance innovation to support clients in accelerating the drug development process.

Last October prior to joining the Company, Charles River announced that Dr. Bumpus would lead its Scientific Advisory Board, which provides guidance to strengthen the Company’s commercial and regulatory strategy. In addition, the Scientific Advisory Board is focused on developing and accelerating the adoption of NAMs across the biopharmaceutical industry.

Prior to Charles River, Dr. Bumpus joined the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2022 as Chief Scientist and later served as the agency’s Principal Deputy Commissioner until December 2024. Before joining the FDA, Dr. Bumpus was Professor and Director of the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Update on Recent Business Trends and Preliminary 2026 Outlook

The Company is providing the following update on recent business trends and a preliminary 2026 outlook at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. This outlook does not reflect the potential impact of planned divestitures or the aforementioned acquisitions.

• DSA demand trends continued to improve throughout the second half of 2025, resulting in a preliminary estimate for the DSA net book-to-bill of approximately 1.1x in the fourth quarter of 2025. The sequential improvement from the third-quarter level was primarily driven by small and mid-sized biotechnology clients, while net bookings from global biopharmaceutical clients also increased.
• With regard to its preliminary outlook for 2026, the Company expects the top end of the guidance ranges for 2026 organic revenue growth will be at least flat for both its consolidated outlook and for the DSA segment.
• Foreign currency translation, or FX, is expected to benefit the reported revenue growth rate by an incremental 100 to 150 basis points in 2026.
• In the DSA segment, the Company is cautiously optimistic that the favorable demand trends will continue in 2026, resulting in expected DSA organic revenue growth in the second half of the year. In addition, the Company expects an improvement in the Manufacturing Solutions segment’s organic revenue growth rate in 2026 will be offset by anticipated headwinds to Research Models and Services revenue related to the timing of NHP shipments and CRADL™ occupancy rates.