Monkey export crackdown threatens U.S. pharmaceutical research

Catch up quick: Last month, U.S. federal prosecutors charged eight people, including two Cambodian officials, with allegedly smuggling endangered wild long-tail macaques.

• That affected the supplier of the primates to contract research organization Inotiv, which supplies the animals to labs around the U.S.
• The company disclosed two of its subsidiaries — Orient BioResource Center and Envigo Global Services — were subpoenaed in connection with an investigation into the importation of the animals.

What they're saying: "We believe that, depending on the duration of restrictions on these imports, drug discovery and development in the U.S. could be materially impacted," Inotiv said in a preliminary financial statement issued Monday.

• Cambodian officials have said they plan to "seek justice" for its officials.

The big picture: Analysts warn the financial impacts of Cambodia halting the export of non-human primates could ripple across U.S. contract research organizations.

• "During COVID when China cut off the supply to the U.S., the cost for cynomolgus macaques skyrocketed to more than $10,000 per monkey assuming one could even find one. If Cambodia refuses to export to the U.S., that number will grow dramatically," Raymond James said in a research note.

• "If this becomes an ongoing issue, development of future treatments and vaccines could be hindered as a result of lacking the needed primates," they said.

Be smart: If the name Envigo sounds familiar, it could be because U.S. inspectors seized 4,000 beagles from a company facility earlier this year after finding signs of mistreatment of the animals.