Better Health for All

Charles River Laboratories plays a significant role in accelerating life-saving therapies, having worked on 85% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023.

The company also supports the development of novel cancer treatments, such as CAR-T cell therapy, and provides diagnostic services through its CLIA-certified facilities, which ensure the accuracy and reliability of patient test results and support post-market drug patient safety monitoring. Furthermore, Charles River has received ISO 27001 certification for its information security management systems, demonstrating a commitment to data security. The company's business model is focused on drug discovery and development services, preclinical and clinical laboratory services, and manufacturing support, and does not involve holding healthcare-related patents on drugs, producing food or nutritional products, or offering products with addiction potential.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Charles River Laboratories (CRL) operates in the Life Sciences Tools & Services industry, focusing on drug discovery and development support.

The company does not engage in financial services or economic empowerment initiatives. Therefore, all KPIs related to fair money and economic opportunity, which are designed for financial institutions, are not applicable to CRL's business model.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Charles River Laboratories announced 94 job cuts in 2024 due to the closure of its Skokie, Illinois office

, and an additional 55 job cuts between 2023 and 2024 from the closure of a South San Francisco facility . In November 2018, seven African American women filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging racial discrimination at its Charleston, South Carolina facility, including racist comments, denied promotions, and retaliation . The company also paid $1.8 million in March 2017 to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act by improperly charging for labor on federal contracts .

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

No specific quantitative data was provided in the articles to assess Charles River Laboratories against the defined KPIs for Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing. While the company's Corporate Citizenship Report highlights a commitment to responsible supply chain management

and membership in initiatives like PSCI , and efforts are detailed regarding conflict minerals and sustainable sourcing of horseshoe crabs , the articles do not provide percentages of fair-trade certified spend, audit frequencies, incident counts for forced/child labor, traceability coverage, remediation speeds, ethical clause coverage in contracts, share of spend on high-risk materials, or supplier diversity spend.

Honest & Fair Business

Charles River Laboratories is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, initiated in February 2023, concerning the illegal importation of non-human primates from Cambodia.

This investigation prompted the company to suspend shipments from Cambodia and anticipate a significant negative impact on earnings. Following this, several law firms initiated shareholder lawsuits alleging breaches of fiduciary duties by directors, and a securities class action was filed in May 2023, claiming misleading disclosures about importation practices. In March 2017, Charles River Laboratories paid $1.8 million to settle False Claims Act allegations for improper billing to NIH, which the company self-disclosed. In 2023, Charles River Laboratories became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, committing to principles including anti-corruption, and published a 2023 Corporate Citizenship Report.

Kind to Animals

Charles River Laboratories is committed to the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) and a fourth R – Responsibility

, establishing an Office for Responsible Animal Use (ORAU) in 2023 . The company has an Animal Welfare and Humane Treatment of Animals Policy , with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) reviewing protocols to ensure 3Rs implementation and that no alternatives exist . However, PETA reports document frequent violations of federal animal welfare laws , including incidents of 32 monkeys dying due to heat , a monkey scalded to death , untreated injuries , and failure to administer pain relief . PETA also alleges the company breeds and sells millions of animals for experiments , supplying one of every two animals used , and is a major importer of thousands of monkeys . The company actively employs and invests in non-animal testing methods (NAMs), including in vitro, in silico, in chemico, organ-on-a-chip systems, and virtual control groups . In January 2024, it introduced the Endosafe Trillium recombinant cascade reagent (rCR) cartridge, the first rapid, animal-free bacterial endotoxin test, eliminating the need for horseshoe crab blood . Its PathogenBinder™ methodology reduces the need for one million sentinel rodents annually . These alternatives are standard in product development and safety dossiers, with the Retrogenix® Platform supporting over 100 IND submissions . Charles River is a founding force behind the 3Rs Collaborative and has numerous strategic partnerships with organizations like MatTek , Sanofi , Cypre , and Unilever to advance animal-free methods, also joining the EU-backed EASYGEN Consortium . The company actively collaborates with regulatory agencies and policymakers globally to advocate for systemic changes and accelerate the adoption of NAMs , and signed the U.S. Animal Research Openness (USARO) Agreement in November 2025 .

No War, No Weapons

Charles River Laboratories holds contracts with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the Naval Medical Research Unit for providing laboratory research animals and services.

These military research contracts are explicitly focused on medical research rather than weapons development, indicating no exposure to controversial or banned weapons.

Planet-Friendly Business

Charles River Laboratories reported total Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions of 539,343 tCO₂e in 2023, representing a 3.66% annual decline from 2022.

The company's 2030 GHG emissions reduction targets for Scope 1 and 2 are approved by SBTi in line with a 1.5°C pathway, and Scope 3 targets are aligned with a 2°C pathway, with defined interim milestones. As of the first quarter of 2024, the company achieved 100% renewable electricity usage across all its global sites. In 2023, 91% of its facilities were subject to national and international certification. Over 40% of targeted suppliers, representing more than 70% of total supply chain GHG emissions, were providing emissions data by the end of 2023. In 2023, the company recorded 23 EHS&S-related notices of non-compliance but paid $0 in environmental fines. Charles River published a TCFD-Aligned Summary Report in late 2024 and conducted its first climate scenario analysis in 2023.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The provided articles do not contain specific, concrete data points or actions that directly map to the quantitative thresholds of the defined KPIs for 'Respect for Cultures & Communities'. While Charles River Laboratories outlines corporate citizenship efforts

and promotes internal diversity by celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, the evidence does not detail formal partnerships with indigenous or local community groups, specific percentages of revenue reinvested in local community development or cultural preservation, cultural impact assessment protocols, or community grievance mechanisms. Allegations regarding primate sourcing raise ethical questions related to public health and wildlife use , but do not directly relate to cultural incidents or community engagement as defined by the rubric's KPIs.

Safe & Smart Tech

Charles River Laboratories has achieved ISO 27001:2013 and 27017:2018 certifications for its information security management system, demonstrating a strong commitment to data protection.

The company scans all assets within its organization, both on-site and remote, and engages third parties for annual penetration testing, indicating comprehensive security testing coverage. In terms of regulatory compliance, Charles River maintains a Global Privacy and Data Protection Policy, complies with GDPR, and actively participates in regulatory discussions on AI and machine learning, providing comments to regulators. , The company also publishes Corporate Citizenship Reports in accordance with GRI Universal Standards and SASB Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Standard. , Regarding AI ethics, Charles River is involved in developing explainable AI (XAI) systems designed to provide transparent reasoning behind AI decisions and has partnered to develop bias detection tools. The company advocates for clear notation of AI-generated results and explainability from developers and users. While a cybersecurity breach occurred in March 2019, affecting 1% of clients with data copied but not deleted or altered, there have been no unauthorized data use incidents in the past five years. , Following the 2019 incident, the company promptly closed the point of entry and implemented enhanced security measures. ,

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Charles River Laboratories has implemented a waste reduction initiative across its animal production facilities, repurposing animal waste by donating clean bedding waste to local farms for fertilizer

. These efforts aim to minimize waste sent to landfills and incinerations .