IQVIA, a global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and clinical research services to the life sciences industry, has entered into an agreement to acquire certain discovery services assets from Charles River Laboratories, strengthening its end-to-end drug discovery platform.
The assets include five sites specializing in a range of in vitro drug discovery services, including established laboratory-based New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and a small molecule AI platform designed to accelerate discovery programs and support growing demand for non-animal research methods. The portfolio is supported by more than 20 years of curated scientific and operational data, along with extensive therapeutic expertise. Since inception, the assets have enabled more than 100 molecules to enter clinical trials and include several commercially approved drugs.
The acquisition enhances IQVIA Laboratories’ existing drug discovery capabilities, creating a fully integrated platform spanning target identification, hit-to-lead, lead optimization and early safety assessment. The expanded platform is expected to broaden IQVIA’s ability to support a wider range of drug modalities and therapeutic areas in early discovery research, including oncology, neurology, immunology, metabolism and rare diseases.
Pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors are expected to benefit from the integration of IQVIA’s scientific, regulatory and clinical expertise, spanning early-stage discovery research through clinical development.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.
KEY QUOTES:
“This acquisition will meaningfully strengthen our ability to support clients earlier in the R&D lifecycle and complements our existing translational and clinical development capabilities. Integrating these assets with our existing capabilities creates an industry-leading drug discovery platform with a track record of advancing discovery programs into clinical development.”
David Morris, President Of IQVIA Laboratories
