Beleaguered drug research company Charles River Laboratories International said in an earnings report this week it would close its molecular imaging facility and lay off 4 percent of its workforce.

"The actions we are taking to appropriately align our infrastructure to current demand will enable us to profitably meet the challenges we are facing, and position us for improved profitability when demand improves," the company's chairman, president and CEO James C. Foster said Wednesday, in prepared remarks.

Facing what it says is declining research and development funds from its pharmaceutical customers, the group will sack about 300 workers, Xconomy reported yesterday. It will also shutter a leased satellite PCS facility in Laval, Quebec, as well as its Discovery and Imaging Services operation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company said it plans on consolidating the work there with its larger plant in Morrisville, N.C.

Charles River got the Ann Arbor facility only two years ago, as part of its $12.5 million purchase of Molecular Imaging Research, Xconomy said.

The company said it hopes to save around $40 million yearly starting in 2011 from these maneuvers.

Charles River, headquartered in Wilmington, Mass., said its sales fell 7 percent for the third quarter compared with last year, dropping to $276.1 million from $297.5 million in 2009.