Monkey Business Threatens U.S. Drug Discovery

Due to rising biomedical-research needs—and the limited supply of long-tailed macaques from breeding farms in Southeast Asia—there has long been a black market for monkeys caught in the wild. Rampant smuggling was a key reason behind the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s decision last year to change long-tailed macaques’ status from “vulnerable” to “endangered.”

The U.S., the world’s largest importer of the animals, finally is doing something about it, but coordination among various government agencies has been faulty. Federal prosecutors in November charged eight people with running an international operation to poach wild monkeys. Among those charged were two Cambodian wildlife officials, one of whom was arrested in the U.S.—while traveling to an endangered-species conference. The largest U.S. monkey importers have received subpoenas as part of the probe, leading them to temporarily halt shipments from Cambodia. For its part, the Cambodian government said it was “surprised and saddened” by the arrest.

The crackdown is exacerbating a shortage of nonhuman primates for research in the U.S. About 60% of the 30,000 biomedical-research monkeys imported annually to the U.S. used to come from China, but Beijing banned those exports during the pandemic, forcing American companies to pivot to Cambodia. The Chinese move, many in the industry say, was designed to give that nation an edge in the biomedical field in the midst of a pandemic and a trade war between the two superpowers. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment. The shortage has driven up the cost of a nonhuman primate to more than $30,000 this year, from about $2,500 prepandemic, according to Elizabeth Anderson, an analyst at Evercore ISI.

While Ms. Anderson says there is some speculation China could soon reopen for exports, it currently remains shut off, and Cambodia had been supplying about 60% of the monkeys imported annually. 

The most visible financial impact has been felt by clinical research organizations like

Charles River Laboratories.

CRL 1.73%

The company’s shares dropped 10%  when it announced last month it was suspending shipments of monkeys after receiving a subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department, relating to shipments received by the company from its Cambodian supplier. Charles River said the situation will result in study delays and have a negative impact on its revenues this year. Shares of

Inotiv,

NOTV -2.68%

another major supplier, are down by more than 70% over the past year. The contract drug researcher in November disclosed that executives at its main Cambodian  supplier were among those charged in the indictment. Two of Inotiv’s subsidiaries have received grand-jury subpoenas.

Study delays already might be affecting biotech companies, though how significantly isn’t clear since executives refrain from talking publicly about animal testing. Matthew Bailey, president of the National Association for Biomedical Research, says he is hearing from companies that their projects are being delayed. While allegations haven’t been made directly against Charles River or Inotiv, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with U.S. laboratories to determine whether  monkeys already in the U.S. are wild-caught. U.S. authorities could seize monkeys from companies that can’t adequately document their origins, said a biotech lobbyist, a move that would exacerbate the shortage.

“We recently had a number of shipments of NHPs from our Cambodian supplier denied clearance by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” a Charles River spokeswoman said in an email, adding that the company believes that its monkey imports have adhered to all relevant requirements. 

Future shipments from Cambodia are now being held up until new procedures such as genetic testing can be developed, in agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to weed out wild-caught monkeys.

“The U.S. government is saying, you can’t bring them in yet,” Charles River Chief Executive

James Foster

said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts last month. “And the ones that you have in country—and we have some in country—you can’t use yet, until we sort of work out and ensure that they are indeed purpose-bred.”

Mr. Bailey says the actions taken by the Fish and Wildlife Service have “unilaterally shut down the drug-development process in the U.S.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Eric Kleiman, a researcher at the Animal Welfare Institute, an advocacy organization, says that suspending all imports from Cambodia is a necessary measure until there is a foolproof way of determining the origin of the monkeys. The nation’s November statement about the arrests denied the allegations and made no mention of efforts to crack down on smuggling. “Given Cambodia’s response to the allegations were not exactly fulsome, we believe there should be more controls on the demand side,” Mr. Kleiman said.

The shortage is leading to a scramble to find different sources for research primates. But raising monkeys for laboratory testing takes years, so there is no immediate fix, even though alternate sources are growing in places like Mauritius, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The U.S. has in recent years boosted funding to breed monkeys at national facilities, but the numbers are small. While it is hypothetically possible to breed larger monkey colonies, it would take years and a more serious commitment from the U.S. government to get anywhere close to the levels needed for research, says Mr. Bailey, pointing to the different climate as one of several hurdles.

Mr. Bailey says his group has formed a coalition of affected parties that is now working with Congress as well as executive-branch agencies, but there isn’t yet a sense of urgency at the highest levels of government. Chris Meekins, a Washington analyst at Raymond James, says it appears senior government officials in the Biden administration don’t have this on their radar screens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health are at least marginally aware, he wrote, “but we also suspect they are not sure what can be done.”

Three years after a pandemic shut down the country and killed more than a million Americans, the lack of urgency and coordination at the highest levels is perplexing. There is more than just money at stake.

Write to David Wainer at [email protected]

Due to rising biomedical-research needs—and the limited supply of long-tailed macaques from breeding farms in Southeast Asia—there has long been a black market for monkeys caught in the wild. Rampant smuggling was a key reason behind the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s decision last year to change long-tailed macaques’ status from “vulnerable” to “endangered.”

The U.S., the world’s largest importer of the animals, finally is doing something about it, but coordination among various government agencies has been faulty. Federal prosecutors in November charged eight people with running an international operation to poach wild monkeys. Among those charged were two Cambodian wildlife officials, one of whom was arrested in the U.S.—while traveling to an endangered-species conference. The largest U.S. monkey importers have received subpoenas as part of the probe, leading them to temporarily halt shipments from Cambodia. For its part, the Cambodian government said it was “surprised and saddened” by the arrest.

The crackdown is exacerbating a shortage of nonhuman primates for research in the U.S. About 60% of the 30,000 biomedical-research monkeys imported annually to the U.S. used to come from China, but Beijing banned those exports during the pandemic, forcing American companies to pivot to Cambodia. The Chinese move, many in the industry say, was designed to give that nation an edge in the biomedical field in the midst of a pandemic and a trade war between the two superpowers. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment. The shortage has driven up the cost of a nonhuman primate to more than $30,000 this year, from about $2,500 prepandemic, according to Elizabeth Anderson, an analyst at Evercore ISI.

While Ms. Anderson says there is some speculation China could soon reopen for exports, it currently remains shut off, and Cambodia had been supplying about 60% of the monkeys imported annually. 

The most visible financial impact has been felt by clinical research organizations like

Charles River Laboratories.

CRL 1.73%

The company’s shares dropped 10%  when it announced last month it was suspending shipments of monkeys after receiving a subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department, relating to shipments received by the company from its Cambodian supplier. Charles River said the situation will result in study delays and have a negative impact on its revenues this year. Shares of

Inotiv,

NOTV -2.68%

another major supplier, are down by more than 70% over the past year. The contract drug researcher in November disclosed that executives at its main Cambodian  supplier were among those charged in the indictment. Two of Inotiv’s subsidiaries have received grand-jury subpoenas.

Study delays already might be affecting biotech companies, though how significantly isn’t clear since executives refrain from talking publicly about animal testing. Matthew Bailey, president of the National Association for Biomedical Research, says he is hearing from companies that their projects are being delayed. While allegations haven’t been made directly against Charles River or Inotiv, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with U.S. laboratories to determine whether  monkeys already in the U.S. are wild-caught. U.S. authorities could seize monkeys from companies that can’t adequately document their origins, said a biotech lobbyist, a move that would exacerbate the shortage.

“We recently had a number of shipments of NHPs from our Cambodian supplier denied clearance by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” a Charles River spokeswoman said in an email, adding that the company believes that its monkey imports have adhered to all relevant requirements. 

Future shipments from Cambodia are now being held up until new procedures such as genetic testing can be developed, in agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to weed out wild-caught monkeys.

“The U.S. government is saying, you can’t bring them in yet,” Charles River Chief Executive

James Foster

said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts last month. “And the ones that you have in country—and we have some in country—you can’t use yet, until we sort of work out and ensure that they are indeed purpose-bred.”

Mr. Bailey says the actions taken by the Fish and Wildlife Service have “unilaterally shut down the drug-development process in the U.S.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Eric Kleiman, a researcher at the Animal Welfare Institute, an advocacy organization, says that suspending all imports from Cambodia is a necessary measure until there is a foolproof way of determining the origin of the monkeys. The nation’s November statement about the arrests denied the allegations and made no mention of efforts to crack down on smuggling. “Given Cambodia’s response to the allegations were not exactly fulsome, we believe there should be more controls on the demand side,” Mr. Kleiman said.

The shortage is leading to a scramble to find different sources for research primates. But raising monkeys for laboratory testing takes years, so there is no immediate fix, even though alternate sources are growing in places like Mauritius, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The U.S. has in recent years boosted funding to breed monkeys at national facilities, but the numbers are small. While it is hypothetically possible to breed larger monkey colonies, it would take years and a more serious commitment from the U.S. government to get anywhere close to the levels needed for research, says Mr. Bailey, pointing to the different climate as one of several hurdles.

Mr. Bailey says his group has formed a coalition of affected parties that is now working with Congress as well as executive-branch agencies, but there isn’t yet a sense of urgency at the highest levels of government. Chris Meekins, a Washington analyst at Raymond James, says it appears senior government officials in the Biden administration don’t have this on their radar screens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health are at least marginally aware, he wrote, “but we also suspect they are not sure what can be done.”

Three years after a pandemic shut down the country and killed more than a million Americans, the lack of urgency and coordination at the highest levels is perplexing. There is more than just money at stake.

Write to David Wainer at [email protected]