In the wake of a second quarter that saw revenues decline by 3.2%, contract research organization Charles River Laboratories is laying off 3% of its workforce, a spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Biotech in an emailed statement.
Cuts are being made across the company “to align with client needs,” the company said in the statement.
Last quarter’s revenue declines were driven by the Discovery and Safety Assessment and Research Models and Services segments of the company.
When the company reported second-quarter results in August, Charles River CEO James Foster said he did not expect demand for the CRO’s services would improve throughout the rest of 2024. In fact, Foster warned that demand for Charles River's services could decline further in the remainder of the year.
Charles River has about 21,400 workers across more than 150 locations in 21 countries. A 3% reduction would come out to about 642 employees laid off.
In addition to the layoffs, the company is “streamlining our cost structure to optimize our footprint, be more effective in supporting clients and drive greater operating efficiencies,” Charles River said in the statement.
Through these measures, the firm hopes to “emerge as a stronger, leaner partner to help our clients achieve their goals,” according to the statement.
In the Aug. 7 release discussing the second-quarter revenue dip, Foster said Charles River was considering “aggressively managing our cost structure."