UK INDUSTRY ASSESSES IMPACT OF ANIMAL RIGHTS EXTREMISM

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is concerned that a spate of recent criminal activity by animal rights activists in the UK is threatening the country's clinical research industry. Recently, a private farm that produced guinea pigs for testing was forced to close down after a sustained six-year period of harassment. This comes on the back of more than 100 attacks on the industry last year, including a number of serious incidents such as arson.

The failure of the police to protect the medical research sector is worrying in the face of the British government's commitment to developing the country's biopharmaceutical industry. In February this year, British finance minister Gordon Brown declared that he wanted to make the UK the "premier location" for innovative trials.

The UK is currently one of the world leaders in terms of clinical research. However, with the rise of emerging economies such as India and China there is an additional threat that companies may move their research activities overseas. This would be a significant blow to the British drug industry, which employs 80,000 people and is one of the country's top three industries in terms of trade. Industry sources also claim it would reduce access to new drugs as well as isolating sections of the research community.