Charles River Laboratories has signed a joint venture agreement with Shanghai BioExplorer Company, a Shanghai provider of preclinical services, to form Charles River Laboratories Preclinical Services China.

The joint venture will be majority owned and controlled by Charles River. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including Chinese regulatory approval, and is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2007.

As part of this agreement, Charles River will construct a 50,000-square-foot preclinical services facility in Shanghai. The facility, which is expected to open in mid-2008, will provide a wide range of discovery and development services, including GLP and non-GLP toxicology studies.

These services will meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's and Charles River's standards for quality, as well as Charles River's stringent animal welfare policies. Charles River intends to use its own research models in the new Shanghai facility, which the company believes will enhance the quality of the studies performed there.

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