CRL cites cell and gene therapies, M&As and discovery services as drivers for 2022
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) expects cell and gene therapy-related discovery and safety testing work as well as recent acquisitions to drive growth in 2022.
The contract research firm made the forecast during its earnings call this week, also revealing that – for the 12 months to the end of December – its total revenue increase 21.1% to $3.54 billion.
CRL’s discovery and safety assessment unit made the biggest revenue contribution, bringing in $2.11 billion, which is 14.7% higher than in 2020.
In addition, the CRO’s manufacturing business saw revenue grow 44.1% to $742.5 million while the contribution from research models and services climbed 20.9% to $690.4 million.
CEO James Foster told analysts said CRL saw demand increase in the year, telling analysts the CRO worked on more than 85% of the FDA approved drugs in 2021, including all CNS medicines and more than 90% of the oncology treatments.
“We have seen unprecedented demand across most of our businesses, and we believe that this demand coupled with robust industry fundamentals will fuel low teens revenue growth in 2022,” he said.
Cell and gene therapy
Foster also predicted recent acquisitions would drive growth in 2022, telling analysts “We have enhanced our scientific capabilities for advanced therapies in areas that offer significant growth potential with six acquisitions over the past two years.”
CRL’s recent takeovers include Vigene Biosciences, Cognate Bioservices and Hemacare all of which have positioned the CRO for growth in the cell and gene therapy sector Foster said.
“We have built an end-to-end non-clinical portfolio of cell and gene therapy solutions to support clients from early stage research through cGMP production, and we expect to generate nearly 15% of our total revenue in 2022.”
Discovery services
CRL will also further expand its discovery services portfolio this year according to Foster, who cited Retrogenix and Distributed Bio as examples of recent acquisitions in the space.
“We intend to continue to build our discovery portfolio, including through strategic partnerships and acquisitions. Acquired in early 2021, Retrogenix, with its proprietary cell microarray technology and off-target screening services, had a very successful first year as part of the Charles River family.
“Combined with Distributed Bio's large molecule discovery platform, clients can now partner with us for integrated end-to-end solutions for therapeutic antibody and cell and gene therapy discovery and development.”
The comments come just weeks after CRL partnered with artificial intelligence (AI) based drug discovery services firm Valo Health and assay technology firm SAMDI Tech.
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