IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) to acquire drug discovery assets

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IQV) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire certain discovery services assets from Charles River Laboratories. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.

The acquisition includes five sites that specialize in in vitro drug discovery services, including laboratory-based New Approach Methodologies and a small molecule AI platform. The assets are supported by more than 20 years of scientific and operational data and have enabled over 100 molecules to enter clinical trials, including several commercially approved drugs.

The acquisition will complement IQVIA Laboratories’ existing drug discovery capabilities to create an integrated drug discovery platform spanning target identification, hit-to-lead, lead optimization and early safety assessment. The expanded capabilities will allow IQVIA to serve a wider range of drug modalities and therapeutic areas including Oncology, Neurology, Immunology, Metabolism and Rare Diseases.

“This acquisition will meaningfully strengthen our ability to support clients earlier in the R&D lifecycle and complements our existing translational and clinical development capabilities,” said David Morris, president of IQVIA Laboratories.