Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., also called Charles River, is an early-stage contract research company, which provides essential products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and academic institutions. It operates through the following segments: Research Models & Services, Discovery & Safety Assessment, and Manufacturing Support. Read More The Research Models & Services segment comprises of the production and sale of research models, and also offers services designed to support its client's use of research models in screening non-clinical drug candidates. The Discovery & Safety Assessment segment offers discovery and safety assessment services, both regulated and non-regulated, in which it include both in vivo and in vitro studies, supporting laboratory services, and strategic preclinical consulting and program management to support product development. The Manufacturing Support segment provides endotoxin and microbial detection, avian vaccine and biologics testing solutions. The company was founded by Henry L. Foster in 1947 and is headquartered in Wilmington, MA.