CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNATIONAL INC

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.:

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, and the related consolidated statements of income, of comprehensive income (loss), of changes in equity and redeemable noncontrolling interests and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 28, 2024, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the "consolidated financial statements"). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 28, 2024 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.

Basis for Opinions

The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Interim Goodwill Impairment Assessment – Biologics Solutions Reporting Unit

As described in Notes 1 and 10 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s goodwill balance was $2,846.6 million as of December 28, 2024, and the goodwill associated with the Biologics Solutions reporting unit was $606.0 million. Goodwill is tested for impairment annually during the fourth quarter or more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more-likely-than-not reduce the fair value of the Company's reporting units below their carrying amounts. If the carrying values of the net assets assigned to the reporting units exceed the fair values of the reporting units an impairment loss equal to the difference would be recorded. In December 2024, subsequent to the annual goodwill impairment test, a triggering event was identified for the Biologics Solutions reporting unit. This resulted from a loss of key customers, ultimately resulting in a reduction in Biologics Solutions’ long range financial outlook. Management conducted a quantitative impairment test for goodwill to determine if the goodwill in the Biologics Solutions reporting unit was impaired. The determination of the fair value of the Biologics Solutions reporting unit requires the use of significant judgment using management’s best estimates of inputs and assumptions that a market participant would use. The fair value of the Biologics Solutions reporting unit was determined by using a weighted combination of a market-based approach and an income approach. Under the market-based approach, the Company utilized entity specific information about the reporting unit as well as publicly available industry information to determine key assumptions including earnings multiples and sales multiples. Under the income approach, fair value was determined based on the estimated future cash flows of the reporting unit which includes key assumptions for future revenue, long term growth rates, and operating income margins, discounted by an estimated weighted-average cost of capital. As a result, the Company recognized a goodwill impairment charge of $215.0 million.

The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to the interim goodwill impairment assessment of the Biologics Solutions reporting unit is a critical audit matter are (i) the significant judgment by management when developing the fair value estimate of the Biologics Solutions reporting unit; (ii) a high degree of auditor judgment, subjectivity, and effort in performing procedures and evaluating management’s significant assumptions related to earnings multiples and sales multiples used in the market-based approach and future revenue, long term growth rates, operating income margins, and discount rate used in the income approach; and (iii) the audit effort involved in the use of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to management’s goodwill impairment assessments, including controls over the valuation of the Biologics Solutions reporting unit. These procedures also included, among others (i) testing management’s process for developing the fair value estimate of the reporting unit; (ii) evaluating the appropriateness of the market-based approach and the income approach used by management; (iii) testing the completeness and accuracy of underlying data used in the market-based approach and the income approach; and (iv) evaluating the reasonableness of the significant assumptions used by management related to earnings multiples and sales multiples used in the market-based approach and future revenue, long term growth rates, operating income margins, and discount rate used in the income approach. Evaluating management’s assumptions related to future revenue and operating income margins involved evaluating whether the assumptions used by management were reasonable considering (i) the current and past performance of the

Biologics reporting unit; (ii) the consistency with external market and industry data; and (iii) whether the assumptions were consistent with evidence obtained in other areas of the audit. Professionals with specialized skill and knowledge were used to assist in evaluating (i) the appropriateness of the market-based approach and the income approach, as well as the weighted combination of the approaches and (ii) the reasonableness of the earnings multiples, sales multiples, long term growth rates, and discount rate assumptions.

Revenue Recognition using Cost-to-Cost Method – Discovery and Safety Assessment

As described in Notes 1 and 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company recognized Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) revenue from services and products transferred over time of $2,446.8 million for the year-ended December 28, 2024, of which a significant portion relates to services that are delivered to the customer based on the extent of progress towards completion of the performance obligation that management measures using the cost-to-cost (input) method. The Company uses the cost-to-cost measure of progress when it best depicts the transfer of value to the customer, which occurs as the Company incurs costs on its contract, generally related to fixed fee service contracts. Under the cost-to-cost measure of progress, the extent of progress towards completion is measured based on the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligation. The cost calculation includes variables such as labor hours, allocation of overhead costs, research model costs, and subcontractor costs. Revenue is recorded proportionally as costs are incurred.

The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to DSA revenue recognized using the cost-to-cost method is a critical audit matter are a high degree of auditor subjectivity and effort in performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence related to the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligation.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to the revenue recognition process, including controls over the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligation, review of contracts, testing of budget versus actual costs incurred, and testing of revenue recognition. These procedures also included, among others (i) reading contracts and reports describing the results of services provided for a sample of DSA service contracts; (ii) testing management’s process for determining the amount of DSA service revenue recognized over time for a sample of DSA service contracts; (iii) evaluating the appropriateness of the cost-to-cost method used by management; (iv) evaluating the reasonableness of the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligations through performing a retrospective comparison of actual costs incurred to historical estimated costs for completed service contracts; and (v) testing actual costs incurred for a sample of in-progress service contracts by examining evidence of costs incurred.

/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 19, 2025

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1999.