Investor Relations

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2006--Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) today announced that it has been awarded a ten year, $111.6 million contract by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), more than doubling the size of its current contract with NCI. For the last twelve years, Charles River has provided onsite staffing support to NCI's Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center (FCRDC), and this award expands and strengthens that collaboration by converting the current onsite staffing contract into a long-term dedicated space agreement. In support of the new contract, Charles River will construct a shared-use facility to provide research model production and related services to NCI-FCRDC, addressing NCI's current and future research support needs.

The new, state-of-the-art shared-use facility will be constructed in close proximity to NCI-FCRDC's current operation in Frederick, Maryland, and Charles River expects construction to be completed in the third quarter of 2008. The portion of the shared facility dedicated to meeting NCI-FCRDC's support needs will be staffed and operated by Charles River's Consulting and Staffing Services (CSS) group. CSS, a growing business within Charles River, offers recruitment, training, staffing and management services to customers using Charles River personnel to staff customers' facilities or space in Charles River facilities dedicated to specific customers. To support this new contract, Charles River will dedicate an 80-person staff who will collaborate with NCI-FCRDC in providing genetically defined, pathogen-free, mice to support NCI/NIH (National Institutes of Health) funded research targeting the causes and treatments of infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, cancer, bioterrorism threats and other nationally recognized health issues.

Under the terms of the new contract, Charles River will also assume responsibility for the management of the NCI/NIH Tumor and Natural Products Repositories, in support of the Developmental Therapeutics Program. These Repositories store a wide array of tumor and other samples under carefully controlled conditions so that they can be made available to researchers who are exploring the causes and treatment of cancer and other diseases.

The portion of the shared-use facility not dedicated to NCI will be occupied by Charles River's Research Models and Services (RMS) business, which will use this new space as a platform for growth in the Baltimore/Washington geographic market. This represents another significant step in Charles River's ongoing strategy to situate RMS production facilities in close proximity to targeted markets, and to make an increasingly broad range of Research Model Services easily accessible to customers.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to extend and expand our collaboration with NCI-FCRDC and to dedicate a significant portion of this new facility to supporting NCI's future research needs," stated James C. Foster, Charles River's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "I am confident that our 60 years of experience in constructing and managing highly efficient, state-of-the-art research model facilities will be a meaningful contribution in advancing the government's research mission. I am equally confident that the construction of this new shared facility will provide significant opportunities for our Research Models & Services business to increase its presence in this targeted market."

This project will be funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services under contract no. HHSNZ611200612001C.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements. This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "will," "may," "estimate," "plan," "outlook," and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Forward-looking statements include the statements in this press release regarding Charles River's expectation regarding its performance under the contract with NCI, including expectations regarding the total amounts of revenues to be received under the contract, the nature of the services and products Charles River will be providing thereunder, the timing of facility construction and opportunities for the RMS business generated by this arrangement. Forward-looking statements are based on Charles River's current expectations and beliefs, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by the forward-looking statements. A further description of these risks, uncertainties, and other matters can be found in the Risk Factors detailed in Charles River's Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed on March 14, 2006, as well as other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Charles River assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in this release except as required by law.

About Charles River Laboratories

Charles River Laboratories based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, partners with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions to advance the drug discovery and development process, bringing drugs to market faster and more efficiently. Charles River's 7,500 employees serve clients worldwide. For more information on Charles River, visit our website at www.criver.com.

CONTACT: Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.
Investor Contact:
Susan E. Hardy, 781-262-7616
Corporate Vice President, Investor Relations
or
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Ferber, 781-262-7693
Director, Corporate Communications

SOURCE: Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.