Item 1. Business

General

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future results of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. that are based on our current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industries in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” “goal,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,” “will,” “likely,” “may,” “designed,” “would,” “future,” “can,” “could” and other similar expressions that are predictions, indicate future events and trends or which do not relate to historical matters are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our current expectations and beliefs and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. For example, we may use forward-looking statements when addressing topics such as: trends in our business and industry; goodwill and asset impairments still under review; future demand for drug discovery and development products and services, including the outsourcing of these services; our expectations regarding stock repurchases, including the number of shares to be repurchased, expected timing and duration, the amount of capital that may be expended and the treatment of repurchased shares; present spending trends and other cost reduction activities by our clients; future actions by our management; the outcome of contingencies; changes in our business strategy, business practices and methods of generating revenue; the development and performance of our services and products; market and industry conditions, including competitive and pricing trends; our strategic relationships with leading pharmaceutical companies and venture capital limited partnerships, and opportunities for future similar arrangements; our cost structure; the impact of completed and in-process acquisitions and the timing of closing of in-process acquisitions; our expectations with respect to revenue growth and operating synergies (including the impact of specific actions intended to cause related improvements); the impact of specific actions intended to improve overall operating efficiencies and profitability (and our ability to accommodate future demand with our infrastructure), including gains and losses attributable to businesses we plan to close, consolidate or divest; changes in our expectations regarding future stock option, restricted stock, performance share units and other equity grants to employees and directors; expectations with respect to foreign currency exchange; assessing (or changing our assessment of) our tax positions for financial statement purposes; and our liquidity. In addition, these statements include the impact of economic and market conditions on us and our clients, the effects of our cost-saving actions and the steps to optimize returns to shareholders on an effective and timely basis.

Forward-looking statements are predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document or, in the case of statements incorporated by reference, on the date of the document incorporated by reference. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include those discussed in this Form 10-K under the sections entitled “Our Strategy,” “Risk Factors,” “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” in our press releases and other financial filings with the SEC. We have no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or risks. New information, future events or risks may cause the forward-looking events we discuss in this report not to occur.

Corporate History

We began operating in 1947 and, since then, have undergone several changes to our business structure. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and we completed our initial public offering in 2000. Our stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CRL” and is included in the Standard & Poor’s 1000, MidCap 400 and Composite 1500 indices, the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index, the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index, the NYSE Composite and many of the Russell indices, among others. We are headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Our headquarters mailing address is 251 Ballardvale Street, Wilmington, MA, 01887, and the telephone number at that location is (781) 222-6000. Our Internet site is www.criver.com. Material contained on our Internet site is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Form 10-K to “Charles River,” “we,” “us,” “the Company” or “our” refer to Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

This Form 10-K, as well as all other reports filed with the SEC, is available free of charge through the Investor Relations section of our Internet site (www.criver.com) as soon as practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

Overview

We are a full service, early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our original core competency of laboratory animal medicine and science (research model technologies) to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, which is able to support our clients from target identification through non-clinical development. We also provide a suite of products and services to support our clients’ manufacturing activities. Utilizing our broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness, and increases speed to market.

The development of new drugs requires a steadily increasing investment of time and money. Various studies and reports estimate that it takes between 10 to 15 years, up to $2.5 billion excluding time costs and exploration of between 10,000 and 15,000 drug molecules to produce a single Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug.

Discovery represents the earliest stages of research in the life sciences, directed at the identification, screening, and selection of a lead molecule for future drug development. Discovery activities typically extend anywhere from 4 to 6 years in conventional pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) timelines.

Development activities, which follow, and which can take up to 7 to 10 years, are directed at demonstrating the safety, tolerability and clinical efficacy of the selected drug candidates. During the non-clinical stage of the development process, a drug candidate is tested in vitro (non-animal, typically on a cellular or sub-cellular level in a test tube or multi-well petri plate) and in vivo (in research models) to establish drug safety prior to and in support of human clinical trials.

For over 70 years, we have been in the business of providing the research models required in the research and development of new drugs, devices and therapies. Over this time, we have built upon our core competency of in vivo biology to develop a diverse and expanding portfolio of products and services, which now encompasses the broader early-stage drug research process. We are positioned to leverage our leading portfolio in early-stage drug research in an efficient and cost-effective way to aid our clients in bringing their drugs to market faster.

Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, a broad range of biotechnology companies, and many government agencies, hospitals and academic institutions around the world. In recent years, we have focused our efforts on improving the efficiency of our global operations to enhance our ability to support our clients. Our pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients are increasingly seeking full service, “one-stop” global partners to whom they can outsource more of their drug discovery and development efforts. It is estimated that the market for regulated safety assessment services is 60% outsourced or more, while emerging growth areas such as discovery and certain research model services are currently believed to be less outsourced.

We currently operate in over 100 facilities and in over 20 countries worldwide (excluding our Insourcing Solutions sites). Our products and services, supported by our global infrastructure and deep scientific expertise, enable our clients to overcome many of the challenges of early-stage life sciences research. In 2020, our total revenue was $2.9 billion and our operating income from continuing operations, before income taxes, was $447.1 million.

We have three reporting segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) and Manufacturing Support (Manufacturing).

Through our RMS segment, we have supplied research models to the drug development industry since 1947. With over 150 different stocks and strains, we continue to maintain our position as a global leader in the production and sale of the most widely used rodent research model strains and purpose-bred rats and mice. We also provide a variety of related services that are designed to support our clients in the use of research models in drug discovery and development. We maintain multiple production centers, including barrier rooms and isolator facilities, on three continents (North America, Europe, and Asia). In 2020, RMS accounted for 19.6% of our total revenue and approximately 3,900 of our employees, including approximately 220 science professionals with advanced degrees. In addition, in 2020, we added new services in our Research Products business through the acquisition of HemaCare Corporation (HemaCare) and Cellero, LLC (Cellero).

Our DSA business segment provides services that enable our clients to outsource their innovative drug discovery research, their related drug development activities, and their regulatory-required safety testing of potential new drugs, vaccines, industrial and agricultural chemicals, consumer products, veterinary medicines and medical devices. The demand for these services is driven by the needs of large global pharmaceutical companies that have exceeded their internal capacity or that continue to transition to an outsourced drug development model, as well as by the needs of small biotechnology companies, chemical companies and non-governmental organizations that rely on outsourcing for most of their discovery, development and safety testing programs. These entities may choose to outsource their discovery, development and safety activities to reduce fixed costs and to gain access to additional scientific expertise and capabilities.

We are the largest provider of drug discovery, non-clinical development and safety testing services worldwide. We have extensive expertise in the discovery of clinical candidates and in the design, execution and reporting of safety assessment studies for numerous types of compounds including small and large molecule pharmaceuticals, industrial and agricultural chemicals, vaccines, consumer products, veterinary medicines, cell and gene therapies, biocides and medical devices. We currently provide discovery and safety assessment services at multiple facilities located in the United States (U.S.), Canada, and Europe. In 2020, our DSA segment represented 62.8% of our total revenue and employed approximately 11,600 of our employees including approximately 2,000 science professionals with advanced degrees.

Within our Manufacturing segment, we help ensure the safe production and release of products manufactured by our clients. Our Manufacturing Segment is comprised of three businesses: Microbial Solutions, Biologics Testing Solutions and Avian Vaccine Services. Our Microbial Solutions products and services businesses provide in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing of sterile and non-sterile pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Our Biologics Testing Solutions business provides specialized testing of biologics frequently outsourced by global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Our Avian Vaccine Services business provides specific-pathogen-free (SPF) fertile chicken eggs, SPF chickens and diagnostic products used to manufacture vaccines. In 2020, Manufacturing accounted for 17.6% of our total revenue from continuing operations and approximately 2,000 of our employees, including approximately 180 science professionals with advanced degrees.

Research Models and Services. Our RMS segment is comprised of three businesses: Research Models, Research Model Services and Research Products.

Research Models. Our Research Models business is comprised of the production and sale of research models. A significant portion of this business involves the commercial production and sale of research models, principally purpose-bred rats and mice for use by researchers. The FDA and foreign regulatory agencies typically require that the safety and efficacy of new drug candidates be tested on research models like ours prior to testing in humans. As a result, our research models are an essential part of the drug discovery and development process.

We provide our research models to numerous clients around the world, including most pharmaceutical companies, a broad range of biotechnology companies, other contract research organizations and many government agencies, hospitals, and academic institutions. We have a global footprint with production facilities strategically located in 8 countries, in close proximity to our clients. Our research models include commonly used laboratory strains, disease models and specialized strains with compromised immune systems, which are in demand as early-stage tools in the drug discovery and development process.

The research models we supply have been, and continue to be, some of the most extensively used in the world, largely as a result of our geographic footprint and continuous commitment to innovation and quality. Our research models are bred and maintained in controlled environments, which are designed to ensure that the models are free of specific viral and bacterial agents and other contaminants that can disrupt research operations and distort scientific results. With our production capabilities, we are able to deliver consistently high-quality research models worldwide.

Our research models include:

• inbred, which are bred to be homogeneous;

• hybrid, which are the offspring of parents from two different genotypes;

• outbred, which are purposefully bred for heterogeneity;

• spontaneous mutant, whose genotype results in a naturally occurring genetic mutation (such as immune deficiency); and

• other genetically modified research models, such as knock-out models with one or more disabled genes and transgenic models.

Certain of our research models are proprietary rodent models used to research treatments in several therapeutic areas. We are also a premier provider of high quality, purpose bred, SPF large research models to the biomedical research community.

Research Model Services. RMS offers a variety of services designed to support our clients' use of research models in basic research and screening non-clinical drug candidates. These services address the need among pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to outsource the non-core aspects of their drug discovery activities. Our services include those related to the maintenance and monitoring of research models, and managing research operations for government entities, academic

organizations, and commercial clients. We currently have three service offerings in research models services: Genetically Engineered Models and Services (GEMS), Insourcing Solutions and Research Animal Diagnostic Services (RADS).

Genetically Engineered Models and Services. We create, breed and maintain research models required by our clients for biomedical research activities. The creation of a genetically engineered model (GEM) is a critical scientific event, but it is only the first step in the discovery process, and our scientists can advise clients on how to efficiently create custom models utilizing in-licensed technologies and approaches to modify the genome. Through our phenotyping platforms, we can also design and conduct the relevant studies and tests allowing characterization of the generated models. Productive utilization of GEMs requires significant additional technical expertise in order to properly support basic and early discovery research. We provide breeding expertise and colony expansion, quarantine, health and genetic testing and monitoring, germplasm cryopreservation and rederivation, including assisted reproduction and model creation. Our team of project managers is supported by a proprietary, technologically advanced Internet Colony Management (ICM™) system that allows for real-time data exchange. We provide these services to clients around the world, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, hospitals, universities, and government agencies.

Insourcing Solutions. We manage the research operations of government entities, academic organizations and commercial clients (including recruitment, training, staffing and management services) both within our clients’ facilities and utilizing our Charles River Accelerator and Development Lab (CRADL™) option, in which we lease space to our clients. Some research institutions prefer to retain certain elements of their research in-house, while outsourcing staffing and management, thus driving demand for our services. We believe that our expertise in early-stage drug research, and in particular research model care, scientific and technical support, facility operations, and discovery and development services, enhances the productivity and quality of our clients’ research programs.

Research Animal Diagnostic Services. We monitor and analyze the health profiles of our clients’ research models and research biologics by providing infectious agents and pathology assessment. We developed this capability internally to address the quality control of our research model business. We can serve as our clients’ sole-source testing laboratory, or as an alternative source supporting our clients’ internal laboratory capabilities. We believe we are the reference laboratory of choice for health assessment of laboratory research models and an industry leader in the field of laboratory animal diagnostics.

Research Products. Our Research Products business provides human-derived cellular materials used in the development of production of cell therapies. The business supplies controlled, consistent, customized primary cells and blood components derived from normal and mobilized peripheral blood, bone marrow, and cord blood. Research Products supports biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions and other research organizations who rely on high-quality, viable and functional human primary cells and blood components for biomedical and drug discovery research and cell therapy development.

In August 2020, we acquired Cellero, a provider of cellular products for cell therapy developers and manufacturers worldwide as part of our Research Products business. The addition of Cellero enhances our unique, comprehensive solutions for the high-growth cell therapy market, strengthening the ability to help accelerate clients’ critical programs from basic research and proof-of-concept to regulatory approval and commercialization.

Discovery and Safety Assessment

Our DSA segment is comprised of two businesses: Discovery Services and Safety Assessment. We currently offer regulated and non-regulated DSA services, including in vitro and in vivo studies, laboratory support services, and strategic non-clinical consulting and program management to support product development.

Discovery Services. We offer a full spectrum of discovery services from identification and validation of novel targets, chemical compounds with actual or potential intellectual property value through to delivery of non-clinical drug and therapeutic candidates ready for safety assessment. Our Discovery Services business includes Early Discovery and In Vivo and In Vitro Discovery businesses to streamline and enhance the integrated support we can provide for clients’ drug discovery programs. This seamless discovery organization allows us to better engage with clients at any stage of their drug discovery programs and support their complex scientific needs. Our discovery services business unit focuses on all of the major therapeutic areas, with a strategic focus on oncology, immunology and neuroscience. We believe there are growing opportunities to assist our clients in a variety of drug discovery applications and platforms from target discovery to candidate selection and across the full range of modalities, including small molecules and large molecules and cell and gene therapy candidates.

Early Discovery. We are a global leader in integrated drug discovery services. Our full suite of service offerings, together with our knowledge and expertise, allows us to support our clients at the earliest stages of their research, including the design and

implementations of their research programs, and to stay with them through the entire drug discovery process. Our Early Discovery service capabilities include:

• target discovery and validation;

• target deconvolution through proteomics;

• hit identification and optimization to deliver candidate molecules, including computer-aided drug design;

• early nonclinical pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies, transporter-mediated drug-drug interaction, and in vitro and in vivo assays to assess mechanism, bioavailability and metabolism as required for regulatory approval of new drugs; and

• target engagement biomarker development to support non-clinical and potentially downstream clinical studies.

Additionally, we offer ion channel and drug transporter testing for both discovery and non-clinical purposes, as well as genome editing services.

We provide these services at our clients’ laboratories with Charles River scientists as part of an insourcing service model. Through strategic partnerships, we also offer a human antibody discovery and development platform, an artificial intelligence drug design platform and a human stem cell model platform.

In Vivo and In Vitro Discovery Services. In vivo Discovery Services are essential in early stage, non-clinical discovery research, and are directed at the identification, screening, optimization and selection of effective therapeutic agents in pharmacology models. These in vivo activities typically extend anywhere from 1 to 3 years in conventional pharmaceutical R&D timelines. Our offerings include businesses that provide critical data to advance novel therapeutics, as well as drug transporter assays and kits. We offer R&D expertise, capabilities and services globally to accelerate our clients’ drug discovery pipelines from lead generation to candidate selection. We complement and extend clients’ capabilities and expertise to improve their decision-making, increase their flexibility, and reduce their internal costs and product development timelines. In addition, we provide a growing portfolio of in vitro assays in support of lead optimization to candidate selection activities. Examples of this include early pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies and in vitro assays to assess mechanism, bioavailability, metabolism, efficacy, pharmacology and safety.

In December 2020, we acquired Distributed Bio, a next-generation antibody discovery company. The acquisition expands Charles River’s scientific capabilities with an innovative, large-molecule discovery platform. The transaction combines Distributed Bio’s antibody libraries and immuno-engineering platform with our extensive drug discovery and non-clinical development expertise to create an integrated, end-to-end platform for therapeutic antibody and cell and gene therapy discovery and development.

Safety Assessment. We offer a full range of safety assessment studies required for regulatory submission on a global basis in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, industrial chemical, agrochemicals, consumer products, veterinary medicines and medical devices industries. Our safety assessment business also provides expertise in a variety of therapeutic areas, as well as the development of surgically implanted medical devices.

Toxicology. We offer a broad offering of in vitro and in vivo capabilities and study types designed to identify possible safety risks as well as a broad offering of in vitro and in vivo studies in support of general toxicology (acute, sub-acute and chronic studies), genetic toxicology, safety pharmacology and carcinogenicity bioassays that are required for regulatory submissions supporting “first-in-human” to “first-to-the-market” strategies for potential human therapeutics. We have expertise in the design and execution of development programs in support of a broad diversity of therapeutic modalities. We also support safety studies to test industrial chemical, agrochemicals, consumer products, veterinary medicines and medical devices. For human pharmaceutical candidates, once a lead candidate is selected, toxicology studies are required to support clinical trials in humans and for regulatory approval. These toxicology studies focus on assessing the safety of the potential therapeutic to determine if administration to humans might cause any unintended harmful effects. For new chemicals, industrial chemicals, agrochemicals, veterinary medicines, consumer products and medical devices, safety studies are performed to identify potential hazards to humans and the environment and are required for regulatory registration. Toxicology studies performed for any of these compounds are typically performed using in vitro and in vivo research models to identify any potential adverse effects that a compound has on an organism over a variety of doses and over various time periods of exposure.

Pathology Services. The ability to identify and characterize clinical and anatomic pathologic changes is critical in determining the safety and efficacy of potential new therapeutics, industrial and agriculture chemicals and medical devices. Key “go/no-go” decisions regarding continued product development are typically dependent on the identification, characterization and

evaluation of fluid, tissue and cellular changes that our experts identify and interpret for our clients. We employ many highly trained veterinary anatomic and clinical pathologists and other scientists who use state-of-the-art techniques to identify potential test compound-related changes. In addition to all standard anatomic and clinical pathology techniques, we provide specialized evaluations such as cytology, platelet function, assay development, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, electron microscopy, image analysis, tissue morphometry and stereology services.

Safety Pharmacology. Our clients are also required to conduct an assessment of Safety Pharmacology. This suite of studies is used to determine any effects on the vital organ systems of the body - cardiovascular, respiratory and CNS. Along with heart rate and blood pressure measurements, the cardiovascular assessment will also assess if the test article has the potential to alter cardiac ion channel currents and prolong the cardiac QT interval of the electrocardiogram. Additionally, effects on the central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory systems are assessed to complete the battery of studies to evaluate the vital organ systems of the body. Supplemental studies can also be performed to assess the renal, gastrointestinal and autonomic nervous systems, as well as, dependency potential. We have in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo assays and perform the screening prior to the commencement of first-in-human clinical trials. Our capabilities can also be used to investigate the mode of action behind an adverse effect found in a safety assessment study.

Bioanalysis, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. In support of non-clinical drug safety testing and new chemical development, our clients are required to demonstrate appropriate stability in the collected biological sample, pharmacokinetics of their drug or compound in circulation, the presence of metabolites and, in the case of biologics, the presence or absence of anti-drug antibodies. We have scientific expertise in the sophisticated bioanalytical techniques required to satisfy these requirements for many drugs and chemicals. Once analysis is complete, our scientists evaluate the data to provide information on the pharmacokinetics and/or toxicokinetics of the drug or chemical and complete an evaluation of the biologic disposition of the drug or chemical and its potential metabolites. Pharmacokinetics refers to the understanding of what the body does to a drug or compound administered at therapeutic dose levels, including the process by which the drug is absorbed, distributed in the body, metabolized and excreted. Toxicokinetics refers to the same understanding as applied at higher doses that may result in adverse effects. These studies are routinely required for the full non-clinical assessment of the disposition of the drug or chemical and the results are used in the safety evaluation of the compound. After performing sample analysis in support of non-clinical studies, we also support the clinical bioanalysis required in clinical trials for drug development.

Our safety assessment facilities comply with GLP to the extent required by the FDA, Environmental Protection Agency, USDA, European Medicines Agency, European Chemicals Agency and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as well as other international regulatory agencies. Furthermore, our early-stage discovery work, which is not subject to GLP standards, is typically carried out under a quality management system such as ISO 9100 or similarly constructed internally developed quality systems. Our facilities are regularly inspected by U.S. and other regulatory compliance monitoring authorities, our clients’ quality assurance departments and our own internal quality assessment program.

Manufacturing Support

Our Manufacturing Support segment is comprised of three businesses: Microbial Solutions, Biologics Testing Solutions and Avian Vaccine Services.

Microbial Solutions. Our Microbial Solutions business provides in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing. The products and services are provided by our Endosafe®, Celsis® and Accugenix® businesses, which produce, globally distribute and service a comprehensive portfolio of endotoxin testing, microbial detection and identification kits, reagents, instruments, software, accessories, and laboratory services to a broad range of companies manufacturing and releasing products from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer products companies, including the dairy, food and beverage markets through a strategic partnership. Our Endosafe® business provides lot release testing of medical devices and injectable drugs for endotoxin contamination. Our Celsis® business provides rapid microbial detection systems for lot release testing as well as raw materials and in-process for quality control testing in the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer products industries. Our Accugenix® business provides state-of-the-art microbial identification services and products for manufacturing in the biopharmaceutical, medical device, nutraceutical and consumer care industries. We expect our comprehensive portfolio of offerings and global network of laboratories to drive increased adoption of our quality control testing solutions across both sterile and non-sterile applications.

Endosafe®. We are a market leader in endotoxin testing products and services, which are used for FDA-required quality control testing of injectable drugs and medical devices, their components, and the processes by which they are manufactured. Endotoxin testing is an in vitro process that uses a processed extract from horseshoe crabs, known as limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL). The LAL test is the first and most successful FDA-validated alternative to an in vivo test to date. Generally, the

extraction of the raw materials for LAL does not harm the crabs, which are subsequently returned to their natural ocean environment. We have worked closely with the Department of Natural Resources to protect the horseshoe crab and, in the regions where those protections are in place, the horseshoe crab population is growing. We are a market leader in endotoxin testing products and services, which are used for FDA-required quality control testing of injectable drugs and medical devices, their components, and the processes by which they are manufactured.

One of the primary growth drivers in our Microbial Solutions business is our FDA-approved line of next-generation endotoxin testing products. This line is based on the Endosafe Portable Testing System (Endosafe® -PTS™) technology, which allows rapid endotoxin testing in the central laboratory or manufacturing environment. In recent years, we expanded the PTS product portfolio to include a multiple sample testing system known as the Endosafe®-MCS™ (multi-cartridge system) and the first fully automated robotic system developed specifically for high-volume endotoxin testing, Endosafe®-Nexus, to satisfy the demand of our clients who require higher sample throughput. We have seen expanded use of this rapid endotoxin testing technology as clients transition from traditional methods to our rapid cartridge technology and are seeking to meet data integrity requirements with our automated systems and software solutions.

Celsis®. The Celsis® reagents and instrument systems are used for in-process and product-release testing to help ensure the safe and efficient manufacture of pharmaceutical and consumer products. Celsis® products utilize bioluminescence technology for the rapid detection of microbial contamination delivering definitive results for some applications as fast as 24 hours. The product range includes reagent kits, instruments, software and services. The Celsis Advance II™ and Celsis Accel™ instruments and software automate the for rapid microbial detection. We recently launched a suite of products focused on sterility testing. Sterility testing is required prior to the release of sterile injectable products. The legacy method required a 14-day sample incubation period and was subjective. Using the Celsis® protocol and instrumentation, clients can detect contamination within 6 days and make definitive product release decisions. In 2020, we launched the Celsis Complete™ and Celsis Advantage™ services. The Celsis Complete™ services supply both the documentation and testing required as part of a client sterility technology validation process. This assists customers to complete their validation process very quickly without utilizing their own personnel resources. The Celsis Advantage product supplies the required documentation needed for the clients to conduct their own internal validation.

Accugenix®. Our Accugenix® global lab network is the premier provider of ISO17025-accredited contract microbial identification services. Accugenix® is an industry leader in species-level identification and strain typing of bacteria and fungi that are recovered from manufacturing facilities. Utilizing state-of-the-art and proprietary technologies, coupled with scientific expertise and analysis from a network of nine global labs, Accugenix® excels in providing accurate, timely, and cost-effective microbial identification services and products required to meet internal quality standards and government regulations.

Biologics Testing Solutions. We perform specialized testing of biologics frequently outsourced by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies globally. Our laboratories in the U.S., Germany, Ireland and France provide timely and regulatory-compliant services in the areas of analytical, molecular biology, virology, cell-based bioassays, bioanalysis, immunochemistry, microbiology, cell biology, in vivo studies and related services. We provide analytical characterization, lot release and safety testing support for chemistry, manufacturing and controls and investigational new drug (IND) filings and confirm that biomanufacturing of clinical drug candidates and commercial drugs are consistent, correctly defined, stable and essentially contaminant free. This testing is required by the FDA, EMA and other international regulatory authorities for our clients to obtain new drug approvals, to maintain government-licensed manufacturing facilities and to manufacture and release market-approved therapeutic products for patient treatment.

Our cGMP manufacturing services facilities grow and store well-characterized early-stage client cell lines for later development or manufacture of therapeutic proteins and vaccines for clinical trials. We further design and provide viral clearance programs for Phase I, II and III human clinical studies in our German and U.S. facilities.

To meet growing demand, we are currently expanding our Biologics Testing Solutions service offerings and facilities in the U.S. and Europe.

Avian Vaccine Services. We are the global leader for the supply of SPF fertile chicken eggs and chickens. SPF chicken embryos are used by vaccine producers as self-contained “bioreactors” for the manufacture of live viruses. These viruses are used as a raw material for human and veterinary vaccine applications. The production of SPF eggs is performed under biosecure conditions, similar in many ways to our research model production. We have a worldwide presence, with several SPF egg production facilities in the U.S., and contracted production capabilities in Hungary. We also operate a specialized avian laboratory in the U.S., which provides quality control test reagents for our SPF flocks, offers testing services to vaccine companies and commercial poultry operations and manufactures poultry diagnostics and bulk antigens for poultry vaccines.

Our Strategy

Our objective is to be the preferred strategic global partner for our clients. Our strategy is to deliver a comprehensive and integrated portfolio of drug discovery and non-clinical development products, services and solutions to support our clients’ discovery and early-stage drug research, process development, scale up and manufacturing efforts, and enable them to bring new and improved therapies to market faster and more cost effectively. Separately, through our various Manufacturing segment businesses, we aim to be the premier provider of products and services that ensure our clients produce and release their products safely.

We believe we have certain competitive advantages in executing this strategy because of our continuing focus on the following:

Integrated Early-Stage Portfolio. We are the only large, global CRO with a portfolio of products, services and solutions that focuses on drug discovery and early-stage development. We provide research models and associated services, discovery research studies and services and comprehensive safety assessment studies in both regulated and non-regulated environments. As such, we can collaborate with clients from target discovery through candidate selection. When critical decisions are made regarding which therapeutics will progress from discovery to development, we continue to work alongside our clients as the drug candidates move downstream. Our recognized expertise in early-stage drug research and pharmacology provides us with a competitive advantage and enables our clients to make critical drug development decisions more quickly. We understand our clients’ therapies and the challenges they face during the discovery and development process, including mechanism of action, efficacy, drug metabolism, safety assessment and toxicological testing critical for making “go/no-go” decisions.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Support Portfolio. We also offer a portfolio of products, services and solutions that supports the process development, scale up and quality control efforts of the biopharmaceutical industry. We provide products and services that support the development and release of commercialized biologics products. In particular, we are an industry leader in the areas of microbial detection and microbial identification to support process development and ongoing commercial production. Our portfolio spans a broad range of traditional and rapid methods, which provide the highest testing quality, enhance productivity and reduce cycle time.

Deep Scientific Expertise. We provide a breadth and depth of scientific expertise across a broad range of therapeutic areas which may be too costly for our clients to build and/or maintain in-house. We provide essential capabilities, including biomarkers, biologics, medicinal chemistry, in vitro screening, in vivo pharmacology, immunology, pathology, biologics process development testing, microbial detection and identification and other specialty service areas that have high infrastructure costs or are cost-prohibitive for clients to maintain independently. We continue to expand our portfolio in key therapeutic and pharmacology areas to align with our clients’ internal drug discovery and development areas of focus. We also continue to enhance our small molecule and biologics manufacturing portfolio in areas of greatest industry need, where outsourcing provides major benefits for our clients and where we could provide significant benefits given our unique early development portfolio and global footprint.

Commitment to Animal Welfare. We are committed to being the worldwide leader in the humane care of laboratory animals and implementation of the “3Rs” initiative (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement). As researchers, we are responsible to our clients, our animals and the public for the health and well-being of the animals in our care. We work closely with the scientific community to understand how living conditions, handling procedures and reduction of stress play an important role in the quality and efficiency of research.

Superior Quality and Client Support. We maintain scientific rigor and high-quality standards through management of key performance indicators and an intense focus on biosecurity and quality. These standards allow clients to access our global portfolio of products and services with the confidence that they will obtain consistent results no matter where they choose to obtain their products or conduct their research.

Flexible and Customized Environment to Provide the Right Solutions. Each of our clients is different, with unique needs and specific requirements. We understand the importance of flexibility, and leverage the expertise embedded in our integrated early-stage portfolio to provide customized solutions tailored to the specific need or therapeutic area for a particular client. By utilizing our streamlined and efficient facilities, we help clients create a flexible and integrated infrastructure in order to improve their workload and staffing requirements. This allows our clients to reduce internal capacity and/or staff while ensuring the conduct of effective quality research for their projects. We provide enhanced value to clients who use us as a full-service integrated partner over a longer period of time.

Large, Global Partner. We believe there is an important advantage in being a full service, high-quality provider of research models and associated services, discovery and non-clinical in vivo and in vitro services and manufacturing support on a global scale. Many of our clients, especially large biopharmaceutical companies, have decided to limit the number of suppliers with which they work. They frequently chose to partner with large Tier 1 CROs like Charles River, who can offer clients support across the early-stage drug research process as a result of broader portfolios and experience in project management. This includes extensive scientific, technical and therapeutic area expertise, real-time access to data through secure portals, provision of data in sponsor-specific formats for data warehousing needs, accelerated reporting, reduced standard reporting timelines and industry-leading Standard Exchange of Non-Clinical Data (SEND) capabilities, a global footprint, streamlined and simplified processes and communications, including professional project and relationship management. We are focused on leveraging our competitive advantages to ensure we are recognized as the premier preferred provider, thereby enabling us to build broader and deeper long-term strategic relationships with our clients.

Our clients’ R&D needs continue to evolve. These clients are increasingly emphasizing studies that have greater translation to the clinic so that they can make appropriate decisions regarding the progression of potential therapeutic entities earlier in the development process. The result is a greater focus on discovery services, including in vivo pharmacology studies consisting of efficacy and non-GLP DMPK (drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics) studies. Second, these clients are choosing to outsource additional discovery and safety assessment services to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their drug selection processes.

We believe that this changing environment will provide enhanced outsourcing opportunities for us in the future. We remain optimistic that our clients are increasingly receptive to partnering with CROs as a means of meeting their discovery and non-clinical support needs. We believe that the successful development of new therapies and outsourcing by the pharmaceutical industry will continue to be positive drivers of demand for our products and services.

Global biopharmaceutical companies are continuing to make the decision to outsource more significant tranches of their drug discovery, development and manufacturing processes. Over the past few years, we have entered into strategic relationships with leading global biopharmaceutical companies and expanded existing preferred provider agreements with other leading global biopharmaceutical companies. We also continue to broaden and extend our relationships with other research institutions across the portfolio.

We believe that larger biopharmaceutical companies will increasingly focus on efficiencies and execution. They will continue to reassess their core differentiators from R&D to commercialization, and which aspects of their drug discovery, development and manufacturing processes they will choose to outsource. We expect they will also continue to be conservative in re-building infrastructure and expertise. This should lead to more opportunities for strategic outsourcing as larger pharmaceutical clients choose to utilize external resources rather than invest in internal infrastructure. By partnering with a CRO like Charles River, they can take advantage of efficiencies in their early-stage research activities that can result in months or years saved in getting a drug to market. In the aggregate, we believe that the evolving large biopharmaceutical R&D business model will make our essential products and services even more relevant to our clients, and allow them to leverage our integrated offerings and expertise to drive their research, non-clinical development and manufacturing efficiency and cost effectiveness.

We believe it is critical to participate in the strategic partnering process because these relationships are likely to extend for multiple years and drive pull-through across our portfolio. Furthermore, both the client and the CRO invest heavily in the initial phases of the relationship to successfully transfer work streams and establish governance processes. Given this investment, clients are less likely to change CROs at the conclusion of the initial relationship. Because of this strategy, we have been successfully renewing the majority of our strategic partnerships.

The evolving biopharmaceutical R&D business model, coupled with a robust funding environment, have also led to the emergence of a significant number of new biotechnology companies in recent years that are discovering innovative new therapies. We believe that our portfolio provides flexible solutions that meet the customized needs for virtual and small biotechnology companies, which have limited or no infrastructure. These clients also value our ability to provide a broad range of services where we work hand in hand with our clients to design, plan and manage integrated projects and programs. This includes classically outsourced services, “insourced” services and hybrid offerings blending resources from both our clients and our staff.

Our strategic imperatives are centered around our intense focus on initiatives designed to allow us to drive profitable growth, enhance our operating efficiency and better position ourselves to operate successfully in the current and future business environment, which we believe will collectively enable us to maximize value for our shareholders.

We intend to continue to broaden the scope of the products and services that we provide across the drug discovery and early-stage development continuum primarily through internal development, and, as needed, through focused acquisitions and alliances. While the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with the desired pace of these transactions in 2020, acquisitions, such as our acquisitions of CTL International (Citoxlab) in fiscal 2019, HemaCare and Cellero in fiscal 2020, and Distributed Bio in fiscal 2021, are an integral part of our growth strategy, both to expand our portfolio and broaden our geographic footprint. We are committed to a disciplined approach that seeks to target businesses that are a sound strategic fit and that offer the prospect of enhancing shareholder value, typically including the achievement of a hurdle rate for return on invested capital above our weighted average cost of capital.

In addition to conventional mergers and acquisitions, our long-term strategy includes growth through establishing relationships and exploring other opportunities and areas that have the potential to strengthen our broad-based portfolio of products and services. In particular, our focus has been to drive differentiation through technologies that enhance the speed to develop a clinical candidate and allow biopharmaceutical companies to make earlier go/no-go decisions. Among other arrangements, these relationships may include entering into license agreements, strategic partnerships or joint ventures that will allow us to access cutting-edge or nascent technologies with a modest investment component. Our ability to thoroughly assess these nascent technologies and market opportunities may later result in an acquisition.

We also partner with a diverse set of leading venture capital firms around the world primarily investing in life sciences, health care and therapeutics with an emphasis on early-stage companies. Through these partnerships and close relationships, we gain insight into their company and asset portfolios and are thus able to promote our contract research services for discovery, safety assessment and biologics testing. Thus, we have the opportunity to establish ourselves as a provider of choice for a unique client group that has emerged as biopharmaceutical companies rationalize and prioritize their development pipelines.

Clients

Our clients consist primarily of all of the major biopharmaceutical companies; many biotechnology, agricultural and industrial chemical, life science, veterinary medicine, medical device, diagnostic and consumer product companies; contract research and contract manufacturing organizations; and other commercial entities, as well as leading hospitals, academic institutions and government agencies. We have stable, long-term relationships with many of our clients. During 2020, no single commercial client accounted for more than 2% of our total revenue and no single client accounted for more than 10% of the revenue of any of our three business segments.

We continue to pursue a goal of expanding our relationships with our large biopharmaceutical clients, and with many of our larger mid-market clients. These relationships take different forms, from preferred provider arrangements to strategic partnerships. The structure of these relationships incentivizes clients to purchase more products and services across our early-stage portfolio. Because of the strength of these relationships, we have better insight into our clients’ planning processes and, therefore, better visibility than in the past. For information regarding revenue attributable to each of our business segments for the last three fiscal years, please see Note 4, “Segment and Geographic Information” included in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. For information regarding revenue and long-lived assets attributable to operations in the United States, Europe, Canada, Asia Pacific and other countries for each of the last three fiscal years, please review Note 4, “Segment and Geographic Information” included in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

Sales, Marketing and Customer Support

Our marketing efforts are focused on stimulating demand for further outsourcing across our entire services portfolio. We believe that our ability to provide solutions that address all aspects of early-stage drug research are increasingly attractive to our clients, and we continue to design and market our commercial activities to deliver flexible, customized programs designed by segment to meet our clients’ global and site-specific needs.

Our go-to-market approach employs a number of sales and marketing strategies, including dedicated sales teams for each of our major lines of business. We also maintain several sales specialists that either have specific technical expertise (often degreed scientists) or cover unique markets.

In addition to our field sales teams and related specialists, we also have a team of alliance managers who are organized by key client within our market segments (global biopharmaceutical, small and mid-sized pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and academic and government institutions). This enhances our ability to meet client needs by offering customized, tailored solutions across our entire portfolio. In addition, our clients benefit by additional support from a combination of technical specialists with specific scientific and therapeutic area expertise. We also apply the use of dedicated sales specialists for certain technical product lines, such as in our Manufacturing businesses.

We sell our products and services principally through our direct sales and business development teams who work in North America, Europe and Asia. In addition to interactions with our direct sales force, our primary promotional activities include organizing scientific symposia, publishing scientific papers and newsletters, hosting webinars and seminars and making presentations at, and participating in, scientific conferences and trade shows in North America, Europe and Asia. We supplement these scientifically based marketing activities with digital marketing, advertising and direct mail. In certain areas, our direct sales force is supplemented by international distributors and agents.

Our internal marketing/product management teams support the field sales and business development teams while developing and implementing programs to create close working relationships with our clients in the biomedical research industry. We maintain client engagement, digital experience, inbound client support, technical assistance, and consulting service departments (in addition to project managers for our service businesses), which address both our clients’ routine and more specialized needs and generally serve as a scientific resource for them. We frequently assist our clients in solving problems related to animal husbandry, health and genetics, biosecurity, non-clinical study design, regulatory consulting, protocol development and other areas in which our expertise is widely recognized as a valuable resource by our clients.

Competition

Our goal is to be a leader in each of the markets in which we participate. We compete in the marketplace on the basis of our therapeutic and scientific expertise in early-stage drug research, quality, reputation, flexibility, responsiveness, pricing, innovation and global capabilities. We are able to offer a unique portfolio of early-stage products and services to support drug discovery and development.

We encounter a broad range of competitors of different sizes and capabilities in each of our three businesses segments. We also face competition from the internal discovery and development resources of our clients.

• For RMS, we have five main competitors of which one is a government funded, not-for-profit entity; one is privately held in Europe and three are privately held in the U.S.

• For DSA, both our Discovery Services and Safety Assessment businesses have numerous competitors. Discovery Services has hundreds of competitors, but three main competitors: two are public companies in China and one is a public company in Europe. Safety Assessment has dozens of competitors of varying size, but one main competitor that is a division of a large public company in the U.S. Our DSA segment also competes with in-house departments of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and teaching hospitals.

• For Manufacturing, each of our underlying businesses has several competitors. Microbial Solutions has four main competitors, of which three are public companies in Europe and one is a private company in the U.S. In addition to many smaller competitors, Biologics has five main competitors, of which four are public companies in Europe and one is a public company in China. Avian has one main competitor to its SPF eggs business, which is a private company in Europe, and numerous competitors for specialized avian laboratory services.

Industry Support and Animal Welfare

One of our core values is a concern for, and commitment to, animal welfare. Laboratory animals are an important resource that further our knowledge of living systems and contribute to the discovery of life-saving drugs and procedures. We work hand-in-hand with the scientific community to understand how living conditions, handling procedures and stress play a role in the quality and efficiency of research. As researchers, we are responsible to our clients and the public for the health and well-being of the animals in our care.

We have been in the forefront of animal welfare improvements in our industry, and continue to show our commitment with special recognition programs for employees who demonstrate an extraordinary commitment in this critical aspect of our business. We created our own Humane Care Imperative (HCI), which is directed by our Global Animal Welfare and Training Group. The goal of HCI is to ensure that we continue as a worldwide leader in the humane care of laboratory animals and implementation of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement).

We are firmly committed to the 3Rs and to reducing the number of animals used by emphasizing health, research animal behavioral management programs and genetic integrity to decrease study data variability. Whenever possible, we use technological advances such as new diagnostic tests for screening pathogens in laboratory rodents, microsampling and in vitro assays. We support a wide variety of organizations and individuals working to further animal welfare and the 3Rs, as well as the interests of the biomedical research community. We also partner with clients to develop study designs decreasing the number of animals needed and suggesting pilot studies where appropriate. We maintain a quarterly award recognizing our

employees’ efforts to continually implement the 3Rs at our sites globally.

We fund scholarships for training in laboratory animal science, provide financial support to non-profit organizations that educate the public about the benefits of animal research and provide awards and prizes to outstanding leaders in the laboratory animal science field and the supporters of 3Rs.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 26, 2020, we had approximately 18,400 employees (including approximately 2,400 science professionals with advanced degrees, including Ph.D.s, D.V.M.s and M.D.s). Our workforce was distributed geographically approximately as follows: 63% in North America, 30% in Europe, and 7% in Asia, and less than 1% in any other region.

In order to support, attract and retain such great talent, we provide our employees with opportunities for skill building and career advancement. Our talent management approach is highly collaborative, encourages ownership, and provides the opportunity for everyone to contribute and develop through regular performance conversations, annual goal setting, ongoing coaching and feedback. Furthermore, we have created a global learning strategy that includes technical training, mentoring and coaching programs, tuition reimbursement, rotational programs, leadership development programs, and on-the-job training. In fiscal 2020, we hired over 3,700 people and our voluntary turnover was below 9%.

In addition to growth opportunities, we strive to attract, motivate, and retain top talent by providing competitive compensation programs while rewarding outcomes and behaviors that align with our performance, culture, and values. Pay equity audits are performed in countries where they are legally required, and we are embarking on a larger pay equity analysis as part of our continuing efforts to be competitive in the marketplace. Furthermore, we continue to build on a global job architecture that allows for aligning pay by job role with market rates and serves as a career path tool to encourage a culture of upward mobility.

We also promote a healthy and safe workplace for our employees. We maintain a Global Policy on Safety & Sustainability and, as part of our efforts to promote our goals of working safely and sustainably, in early 2020 we implemented a management systems approach to improve our safety performance, which involves both employee and management engagement in and ownership of our site-level environment, health, safety, and sustainability programs globally. At every Charles River site globally, we have health and safety leaders that promote employee health and safety and keep site management engaged in their health and safety programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further underscored for us the importance of keeping our employees safe and healthy. In response to the pandemic, we have taken actions to protect its workforce so they can more safely and effectively perform their work. Charles River established a global crisis management team, which includes a team of internal and external experts who have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on employee safety and our business operations. As we navigate the pandemic and focus on keeping people safe, we continue to establish stringent safety protocols at our operating sites. As always, our goal is to provide a safe work environment for our employees, while still meeting our client’s needs for their research solutions. Our global and site business continuity plans are comprehensive, active, and continuously updated as we continue to meet requirements for planned and new projects, including work supporting COVID-19 research efforts.

We are also committed to cultivating a welcoming and inclusive environment. Operating in over 100 facilities and in over 20 countries worldwide (excluding our Insourcing Solutions sites), we believe in treating our employees and prospective talent with dignity, decency, and respect. We recognize that employee diversity contributes to a more innovative workforce and see diversity and inclusivity as a strength for our business. Our commitment to equality spans across all employment-related decisions, from hiring and promotions, to transfers and compensation and career development programs. Our goal is to continue to build a talented workforce reflective of the global communities in which we live and work, and it is critical that our people feel like valued members of our Company. We believe that we have taken positive steps to promote a sense of belonging for our employees in the workplace by building a Diversity, Equality & Inclusion team and council; expanding diversity representation at our Board level; centralizing diversity and inclusion resources for our employees; facilitating senior leadership training on cultural differences, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination, unconscious bias, and micro-inequities; and rolling out a Diverse Interview Panel initiative. We look forward to continuing to make additional progress, including expanding education, allyship, and integrating diversity and inclusion into our client, supplier, and business strategies. As of December 26, 2020, women made up approximately 59% of our global workforce, 58% of our U.S. workforce and 33% of our global leadership positions, defined as positions carrying the title of Vice President or higher. From our U.S. workforce, 25% identified as racial and ethnic minorities.

Our employees are not unionized in the U.S. Employees at some of our European facilities are represented by works councils, employee representative groups and/or unions, which is consistent with local customs for our industry. We collaborate with the works councils and believe we have good relationships with our employees.

Backlog

Our backlog for our RMS, DSA and Manufacturing reportable segments was $167.6 million, $1.4 billion and $79.2 million, respectively, as of December 26, 2020, as compared to $128.7 million, $1.0 billion and $65.4 million, respectively, as of December 28, 2019. Related services are performed over varying durations, from short to extended periods of time, which may be as long as several years. We maintain an order backlog to track anticipated revenue from studies and projects that either have not started, but are anticipated to begin in the near future, or are in process and have not been completed. We only recognize a study or project in backlog after we have received written evidence of a client’s intention to proceed. Canceled studies or projects are removed from backlog.

We believe our aggregate backlog as of any date is not necessarily a meaningful indicator of our future results for a variety of reasons. First, studies vary in duration (i.e., some studies or projects that are included in December 26, 2020 backlog may be completed in 2021, while others may be completed in later years). Second, the scope of studies or projects may change, which may either increase or decrease their value. Third, studies or projects included in backlog may be subject to bonus or penalty payments. Fourth, studies or projects may be terminated or delayed at any time by the client or regulatory authorities for a number of reasons, including the failure of a drug to satisfy safety and efficacy requirements, or a sponsor making a strategic decision that a study or service is no longer necessary. Delayed contracts remain in our backlog until a determination of whether to continue, modify or cancel the study has been made. We may not be able to realize all or most of the net revenues included in backlog or estimate the portion to be filled in the current year.

Regulatory Matters

As our business operates in a number of distinct operating environments and in a variety of locations worldwide, we are subject to numerous, and sometimes overlapping, regulatory environments.

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) governs the care and use of certain species of animals used for research in the U.S. other than laboratory rats, mice and chickens bred for use in research. As a result, most of our U.S. small animal research models activities and our avian vaccine services operations are not subject to regulation under the AWA. For regulated species, the AWA and the associated Animal Care regulations require producers and users of regulated species to provide veterinary care and to utilize specific husbandry practices such as cage size, shipping conditions, sanitation and environmental enrichment to ensure the welfare of these animals. Separately, facilities using live vertebrate animals in research funded by the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) must also adhere to the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and follow the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals produced by the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research.

We comply with licensing and registration requirement standards set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and similar agencies in other countries such as Europe, China and Japan for the care, handling and use of regulated species and birds bred for research. With the exception of one facility acquired as part of the Cellero acquisition, our DSA and RMS facilities in North America and Europe are either accredited or in the process of initiating accreditation by AAALAC International, a private, nonprofit, international organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs.

Our import and export of animals and our operations in foreign countries are subject to international agreements and conventions, as well as a variety of national, regional and local laws and regulations, which establish the standards for the humane treatment, care, handling and transport of animals by dealers and research facilities.

We conduct non-clinical safety assessment studies to support the submissions for approval or licensing of our clients’ products throughout the world. Many of these studies must comply with national statutory or regulatory requirements for GLP. GLP regulations describe a quality system for the scientific, operational and quality process and the conditions under which non-clinical studies are planned, performed, monitored, recorded, reported and archived. GLP compliance is required by such regulatory agencies as the FDA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, European Medicines Agency, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom (U.K.), Health Products Regulatory Authority in Ireland, Health Canada and other similar monitoring authorities in the countries where we operate. GLP requirements are significantly harmonized throughout the world and our laboratories are capable of conducting studies in compliance with all necessary requirements.

Regulatory monitoring authorities such as the FDA, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and OECD countries have indicated an increased emphasis on the management of electronic records generated by computerized systems to ensure data integrity under newly issued guidance. We have established a formal program to manage regulatory and client expectations regarding data integrity within our regulated businesses. Although each business has a different impact on patient safety, all are expected to generate data with integrity. We recognize the importance of generating quality, reliable, sustainable

data and have instituted several processes and established a global governance team with oversight responsibilities for our Data Integrity Compliance Plans to ensure we are consistent in our approach. To ensure that we have proper regulatory oversight over our electronic records, a dedicated quality function reviews our computerized system practices to ensure that appropriate record controls are in place and that a robust audit strategy confirms requirements for compliance.

At a global level, retention of data and controls for electronic systems, proprietary data and quality standards are covered by global policies. We also have controls in place such as quality manuals, policies and procedures, work instructions, document control processes, training, quality assurance and quality control processes and personnel, validated computerized systems and archiving requirements. Within businesses, procedures govern performance of activities to ensure data integrity throughout its life cycle.

Our Manufacturing businesses produce endotoxin test kits, reagents, cell banks used in research and biopharmaceutical production, clinical trial vaccines and vaccine support products. Additionally, several of our laboratories conduct biosafety and analytical testing such as identity, stability, sterility and potency testing in support of our clients’ manufacturing programs and to fulfill their validation requirements, as applicable. These activities are subject to regulation and consequently require these businesses to be inspected by the FDA and other national regulatory agencies under their respective cGMP regulations. These regulations require that we manufacture our products or perform testing in a prescribed manner with respect to cGMP compliance, and maintain records of our manufacturing, testing and control activities. In addition, the specific activities of some of our businesses require us to hold specialized licenses for the manufacture, distribution and/or marketing of particular products.

All of our sites are subject to licensing and regulation, as appropriate under international treaties and conventions, including national, regional and local laws relating to:

• the surface and air transportation of chemicals, biological reagents and laboratory specimens;

• the handling, use, storage and disposal of chemicals (including narcotics and psychotropic drugs), biological reagents, laboratory specimens, hazardous waste and radioactive materials;

• the procurement, handling, use, storage and disposal of human cells, tissues and cellular and tissue-based products for research purposes;

• the safety and health of employees and visitors to our facilities; and

• protection of the environment and general public.

Global regulatory compliance programs are managed by a dedicated group responsible for regulatory affairs and compliance. Our compliance programs are also managed by global quality systems, such as vendor supplier programs, quality management systems and global computer system validation. Within each regulated business, we have established Quality Assurance Units (QAUs) responsible for risk based internal audit programs to manage regulatory requirements and client expectations. The QAUs operate independently from those individuals that direct and conduct studies, manufacturing or analytical testing. Our Data Integrity Compliance Program ensures that management has proper oversight with QAUs of our electronic records, inclusive of quality function reviews of our computerized system practices to ensure that appropriate record controls are in place and that a robust audit strategy confirms requirements for compliance.

While we expect that capital expenditures will be necessary to ensure that our existing sites remain in compliance with government regulations, at this point we do not expect these expenditures to materially differ than our historical experience.

Intellectual Property

We develop and implement computer software and technically derived procedures and products intended to maximize the quality and effectiveness of our services. Although our intellectual property rights are valuable to our success, we believe that such factors as the technical expertise, proprietary know-how, ability and experience of our professionals are more important, and that, overall, these technological capabilities provide significant benefits to our clients. Where we consider it appropriate, steps are taken to protect our know-how through confidentiality agreements and registrations. In addition, we in-license technology and products from other companies when it enhances our product and services businesses. In the future, in-licensing may become a larger initiative to enhance our offerings, particularly as we focus on innovative technologies to enhance our portfolio. With the exception of technology related to our Microbial Solutions testing business, we have no patents, trademarks, licenses, franchises, or concessions that are material and upon which any of our products or services are dependent.

Corporate Governance

We are committed to operating our business with integrity and accountability. We strive to meet or exceed all of the corporate governance standards established by the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC and the U.S. Federal government as implemented by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and other applicable laws, rules and regulations. Each member of our Board of Directors, other than our Chief Executive Officer, is independent and has no significant financial, business or personal ties to us or management. All of our board committees (except our Executive Committee and Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee) are composed entirely of independent directors. The Board adheres to our Corporate Governance Guidelines and a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that has been communicated to employees and posted on our website. We are diligent in complying with established accounting principles and are committed to providing financial information that is transparent, timely and accurate. We have a Related Person Transactions Policy designed to promote the timely identification of such transactions and to ensure we give appropriate consideration to any real or perceived conflicts in our commercial arrangements. We have established global process through which employees, either directly or anonymously, can notify management (and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors) of alleged accounting and auditing concerns or violations including fraud. Our internal Disclosure Committee meets regularly and operates pursuant to formal disclosure procedures and guidelines to help ensure that our public disclosures, including our periodic reports filed with the SEC, earnings releases and other written information that we disclose to the investment community are complete, accurate and timely. We continually monitor developments in the law and stock exchange regulations, as well as overall corporate governance trends and intend to adopt new procedures consistent with such developments to the extent applicable to and appropriate for our Company. Copies of our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Related Person Transactions Policy are available on our website at http://ir.criver.com under the “Investor Relations - Corporate Governance” caption.

Information about Our Executive Officers

Below are the names, ages and principal occupations of each of our current executive officers. All such persons have been elected to serve until their successors are elected and qualified or until their earlier resignation or removal.

James C. Foster, age 70, joined us in 1976 as General Counsel. During his tenure, Mr. Foster has held various staff and managerial positions, and was named Chief Executive Officer and President in 1992 and our Chairman in 2000.

William D. Barbo, age 60, joined us in 1982 as a laboratory technician. Between 1982 and 2005, Mr. Barbo served in a variety of positions of increasing responsibilities. He was named Corporate Vice President of Research Models and Services in 2005, Corporate Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing in 2010, and Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer in October 2016.

Victoria Creamer, age 51, joined us in 2019 as Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer. In 2020, Ms. Creamer was promoted to Corporate Executive Vice President. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Creamer served in senior management human resource positions at each of ITT and IBM.

Birgit Girshick, age 51, joined us in 1989 and originally held positions of increasing responsibility in our RMS Germany and RMS Avian Vaccine businesses. In 2004, Ms. Girshick was promoted to General Manager of the RMS Avian Vaccine Services business. She was named Executive Director, RMS Process Improvement in 2009, and Corporate Vice President, Global Biopharmaceutical Services in 2010. In 2013, Ms. Girshick was promoted to Corporate Senior Vice President, Research Models and Biologics Testing Solutions. In 2016, Ms. Girshick was tasked with leading the integration of WIL Research into our Safety Assessment business. Also, in 2016, Ms. Girshick assumed the role of Corporate Senior Vice President, Global Discovery Services. In February 2018, Ms. Girshick was appointed Corporate Executive Vice President, Global Discovery and Safety Assessment and in August 2018, additionally took on responsibility for our Biologics Testing Solutions and Avian Vaccine Services business.

Joseph W. LaPlume, age 47, joined us in 2005 as Senior Corporate Counsel. He became Deputy General Counsel in 2010, Vice President, Corporate Development in 2011, Senior Vice President in 2014 and Corporate Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy in January 2019. In his current role, he oversees all aspects of strategic planning and corporate development activities across business segments and geographies. Prior to joining us, Mr. LaPlume was a corporate lawyer at GTECH Corporation and in private practice at the law firms of Mintz Levin and Goulston & Storrs.

David R. Smith, age 55, has served as our Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since August 2015. He joined us as Corporate Vice President, Discovery Services through our acquisition of Argenta and BioFocus from Galapagos NV in March 2014 and was promoted to Corporate Senior Vice President, Global Discovery Services, in October 2014. At Galapagos, he served in various capacities, including as Chief Executive Officer of its Galapagos Services division and as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Smith served as Chief Financial Officer for Cambridge University Hospitals from 2007 to 2013. Mr.

Smith spent eight years at PricewaterhouseCoopers prior to joining AstraZeneca in 1997, where he spent the next nine years in various finance and business roles of increasingly greater responsibility.