Talent, Research and a Connected Ecosystem Powers Charles River’s Growth in the Netherlands

‘Scientific research is really a people business. Of course, we have machines and automation, but the people aspect is by far the most important of what we do,’ asserts Erik Baltussen, Site Director of Charles River’s safety assessment operations in the Netherlands. Charles River, the US headquartered contract research organization, has a global position in drug development due to its 100 facilities in more than 20 countries worldwide. The forefront of this growth is the goal to help manufacturers of drugs to get new therapies available to the patient as soon as possible though getting these therapies trhough the development phase. 

Charles River finds fertile ground to accelerate in the Netherlands

The origin is Den Bosch in the southern province of Brabant, were it was founded as an independent company NOTOX in 1983. Only thirteen employees engaged in safety research, such as vaccines and agrochemicals. Now, over 600 employees works for Charles Rivers DEn Bosch location and is now part of a global operation. ‘We also have facilities in Leiden and Groningen in the Netherlands. They operate in discovery – identifying new potential molecules that work on an identified target to potentially cure diseases; in short they invent new molecules. It then comes to us for safety assessment before entering clinical trials,’ Baltussen explains.

Read the whole article here.

Source: Invest in Holland