The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), a U.S.-based nonprofit biomedical research institution, announced today that it has acquired Charles River Laboratories Japan’s Research Models & Services (RMS) business as a wholly owned subsidiary. The Japan-based organization, which will be called The Jackson Laboratory Japan, has approximately 250 employees and three production sites in Atsugi, Hino and Tsukuba, and an administrative office in Yokohama.
“This important acquisition resulting in the establishment of The Jackson Laboratory Japan is a critical milestone in further empowering Japanese researchers to make significant scientific advances and improvements in drug discovery and basic research,” said Auro Nair, executive vice president of The Jackson Laboratory and president, JAX® Mice, Clinical and Research Services.
“We look forward to providing these researchers with direct access to the highest standard of leading-edge animal research models, services, and scientific support that JAX is renowned for. This includes specialty models such as humanized mice and advanced immunodeficient models based on the NSG-platform mouse, as well as services, technical support and scientific expertise. Additionally, this acquisition advances our mission to empower biomedical research worldwide and to play an even more direct role in Japan as well as Korea and Taiwan while advancing our international growth strategy,” said Nair.
JAX has the world’s largest and best characterized repository of high-quality models including aged mice, the JAX® NSG® portfolio, humanized mice, along with important inbred strains like Black 6 and BALB/c and many others in its catalog of 12,000 precision research and therapeutic models. These models have the highest health and genetic quality and have the potential to better provide translatable research insights when precisely applied, benefiting scientists and ultimately, patients around the world. In addition to providing improved access to strains of JAX® Mice, the entire JAX® NSG® portfolio will become available to researchers in Japan.
Nair will serve as the chairman of the Board of Directors and Yukihiro Takemoto will report to Nair while retaining his current role as president and representative director for the new entity, The Jackson Laboratory Japan.
“For over 20 years, we have built a strong partnership with The Jackson Laboratory providing research animal models. We are very pleased to be able to take this new strategic step forward and further contribute to the development of drug discovery and bioscience research in Japan,” said Takemoto. “Customers will continue to have full access to all products and services that they currently receive and we look forward to extending our portfolio of offerings to them.”
About The Jackson Laboratory
The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with more than 2,400 employees. Headquartered in Bar Harbor, Maine, it has a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, a genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn., and facilities in Ellsworth and Augusta, Maine, in Sacramento, Calif., and Shanghai, China and a joint venture in Beijing. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.