Justin Bowers

Girshick said CRL's core regulated work has seen little influx to China, and she could not speak to early-stage work returning since CRL divested that business.

Birgit said conversion from proposal to booking is 1-2 quarters, then 1-2 quarters to revenue, but long-term clients sometimes go from proposal to revenue in the same quarter. This improves backlog quality. Pharma clients talking about more programs into IND but with same budgets.

Jim argued that AI expanding the top-of-funnel from 10 to 20,000 targets would generate incremental preclinical work. More molecules into the clinic means more safety testing demand, benefiting CRL.

Jim said NAMS usage is broad across clients, more pronounced in discovery than safety. Highlighted PathoQuest (next-gen sequencing) and Retrogenix (off-target screening) as beneficial current NAMS. Safety applications remain narrow and early.

Foster said not yet at LOI stage but moving with urgency toward mid-2026 completion. Knell confirmed assets do not meet discontinued operations accounting criteria and will remain in continuing ops until divested.

Foster said mid-tier proposals up both YoY and sequentially; global proposals up YoY but not sequentially. Cancellations down for all client segments. Net bookings up for globals but gross-to-net still an issue for mid-tier biotechs.

Foster said China licensing and biotech investment is continuing, with limited direct impact on CRL but positive for Research Model business in China; expects to capture preclinical work from large pharma acquisitions.

Foster said fast starts were across the board, not isolated to pharma. Pease added the quicker starts will positively affect both Q1 and Q2 but management is not assuming continuation into H2.

James broke down DSA decline as roughly half pricing and half volume, noting pricing headwind works through backlog. Flavia added spot prices are flattish going into 2025.

Bob deferred a firm LRP answer pending new CEO Michel, but pointed to a constructive market and disproportionate participation.

Eric confirmed progress on new customer contracts for Dublin CGM space, focused on drug handling in non-GLP-1 area. Transition in second half after Q2 CGM exit. GLP-1 pipeline includes other indications and combination molecules.

Bob confirmed all volume-driven with no incentive payments. Growth roughly split evenly between SmartDose (pre-transaction) and non-SmartDose business (SelfDose, Crystal Zenith).

Eric explained mix of consistent elastomers plus new combination molecules requiring FluroTec barrier coating and NovaPure. Multiple formats supported: vials, prefilled syringes, cartridges. Bob added future pricing will be equal to or higher than today given positive mix.

Eric confirmed EU regulatory audits are accelerating customer Annex-1 project interest. Dublin drug handling $20 million is early-stage ramp only; peak volumes expected in 2027 and beyond. Company touching only a fraction of the estimated 6 billion component market opportunity.

Eric confirmed generics destocking continues in 2025 second half, pharma has dissipated, and biologics normalizing. Key growth driver is HVP components through GLP-1, biologics, and Annex-1.

Eric confirmed the HVP constraint is in one plant and acknowledged potential 2026 spillover if demand continues climbing.

Eric confirmed 100-150 basis points of Annex One growth contribution is specific to 2025, with projects converting from pipeline to revenue.

Eric clarified the growth is normalized organic demand, not restocking, reflecting return to the long-term growth algorithm.

Segment-by-segment answer: EBP is 100% outsourced by definition, midsize similar, and large pharma penetration is expected to keep rising on AI-driven molecule volume.

Bousbib said lower pass-throughs are not indicative of any change in customer dynamics. Some trial types (vaccines, cardio) naturally have more pass-throughs. Fedock said Q1 EBITDA margin contraction of ~60 bps was entirely from non-operational headwinds (FX, pass-throughs); operationally expanded margin quite significantly.

Bousbib reiterated AI is a positive for both segments. Demand metrics all double-digit growth (qualified pipeline, RFP flow). Booked $10B in 2025 despite headwinds. EBP funding recovered. Large pharma has rich pipeline of opportunities. Declined to project specific book-to-bill targets.

Bousbib declined formal 2026 guidance but expressed confidence that 2026 revenue growth will be at least the same or better than the over-5% growth delivered in 2025. Planning process still underway.

Bousbib said real-world grew strong double-digits driven by return of both discretionary and mission-critical work after 2023-2024 holdback. Expects continued growth based on book of business.

Jim assumed Q4 end market performance similar to Q3, pharma strong, academic slowly improving, biotech same. Proteomic analysis and spatial business are leading indicators for biotech inflection, and funnels there are starting to grow again among biotech customers.

Kim quantified the shift: late-stage funding went from 75% to 82% of total while early-stage discovery dropped from 25% to 18%. This early-stage decline directly impacted core reagent demand. Not a competitive dynamics issue but a spending mix issue.

Kim identified the Maurice biologics instrument line as the primary beneficiary, noting companies typically replicate instrumentation and methods when building new manufacturing sites, allowing Bio-Techne to copy European successes to new US facilities.

Kim declined to give segment-level guidance but implied gradual improvement in Protein Sciences from biotech funding and continued double-digit growth in Diagnostics though potentially less strong than Q1.

Marc highlighted strong authorizations growth and strong pipeline in clinical research, with wins translating into good revenue growth and momentum continuing.

Marc confirmed research and safety channel strength is a blend of improving end market conditions and market share gains, well positioned for continued progress.