Charles River buys WuXi PharmaTech in $1.6 billion deal

Charles River Laboratories International, a provider of research models and associated services of preclinical drug development, is to buy US-listed Chinese drug research and development outsourcing company Wuxi PharmaTech in a $1.6 billion cash and stock deal.

The new company will retain the name Charles River and offer an expanded portfolio of products and outsourcing services to multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, and to academic and government institutions.

James Foster, chairman, president and chief executive officer of US-based Charles River, will lead the combined company while Ge Li, chairman and CEO of WuXi, will become corporate executive vice-president and president of global discovery and China services, which is...