About James Foster
James Foster, Chairman, President, and CEO of Charles River Laboratories, marked his 50th anniversary with the company in April 2026 by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. He is set to retire as CEO in May 2026 but will remain on the board of directors. In interviews, Foster described his tenure as a "great run" and said he is most proud of the company's scientific depth, portfolio sophistication, and its "familial" and "team oriented" culture. He stated that Charles River works on over 80% of drugs approved by the FDA in the last five years.
On the company's Q4 2025 earnings call in February 2026, Foster reported that 2025 financial results were at the upper ends of previously provided revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share ranges. He noted a stabilization of the biopharma demand environment and "substantial improvements" in Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) net bookings. Foster announced the planned acquisitions of KF Cambodia and Pathquest, stating they align with core competencies and are expected to generate operating margin improvement through cost savings on non-human primate (NHP) sourcing. He expressed cautious optimism that favorable DSA demand trends will continue in 2026, with a return to organic revenue growth expected in the second half of the year.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from James Foster's recent appearances.
Browse all interviews →
Transcript (1 segments)
J
James Foster0:02
Dear shareholders, this is James Foster, CEO and chairman of Virax Biolabs. As we reach the mid-year mark of 2023, I'm thrilled to provide you with an update on the exciting developments at Virax and share a comprehensive outline of our upcoming milestones. Our virus immune platform is set to revolutionize how individuals manage their immune health. To deliver on our ambitions, we are focused on important milestones and initiatives. These include improving the accuracy and precision of our COVID-19 T-cell test, the completion of our clinical performance study, and enhancing stability of clinical samples as we expect our technology to allow the broad use of biological samples. So where do we stand? The protocol for the clinical performance study will be reviewed during our FDA pre-submission to satisfy 510(k) requirements. We expect full results of the clinical performance study in the fourth quarter of 2023. Upon receipt of the results, we will immediately start applications in the first quarter of 2024 to seek compliance with US, EU, UK, and Canadian regulations. We're also working to obtain the FDA's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments approval, which we can expect in the first quarter of 2024. We expect the product will initially be available for researchers only in the fourth quarter of 2023 before the launch as an in vitro diagnostic product next year. This will allow us to market and commercialize our products before they have gone through the full regulatory approval process in the aforementioned territories. We have also executed on a number of initiatives in the first half of 2023. These include a purchase order with Cosmos Health for the launch of our Virax Clear COVID-19 and Influenza A plus B antigen combo rapid detection kits, executed agreements for the distribution of avian influenza A virus real-time PCR test kits and Marburg virus PCR test kits for the Virax Clear range. We've also expanded our global reach and improved logistical efficiencies by establishing a regional headquarters at Dubai Science Park. In summary, we are making significant strides towards the goal of creating a comprehensive preventative diagnostics platform. We're excited to continue our mission of empowering a healthier world. Thank you for your support.
