The service, known as Right Source, will allow client companies to externalize their QC (quality control) testing and identify the best combination of insourcing and outsourcing options.
Once selected, Charles River will be able to completely manage a client’s QC testing program, evaluate and select outsourcing vendors where or if necessary, and provide a project manager familiar with the technical aspects of the program to oversee all of a client’s QC activities.
Birgit Girshick, corporate senior VP, research models and global biopharmaceutical services told Outsourcing-Pharma.com that it has seven sites in the US and Europe and they’re looking to help reduce companies’ timelines, offer staff where necessary.
“Really it’s an insourcing and outsourcing program with a lot of consulting, and full project management,” she said.
“We’ve been working with a few clients on a soft launch, and tomorrow [Thursday] is the announcement of the hard launch…some clients have been coming to us saying they want to externalize a specific project but they don’t know where to start,” Girshick said.
“We’ll start with one team and work with clients, and we’ll add staff as needed.”
The number of Charles River employees that will be a part of the Right Source program from the outset is unknown as it will be based on the clients’ needs, Girshick added.
She also noted that the Smart Source program could potentially be a worldwide program, “but again, it’s dependent on the clients.”
The creation of the program coincides with continued pharma consolidation that may help some of the larger CROs like Charles River.
The moves also come as Charles River’s preclinical business continues to bloom.