ONE of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies is threatening to pull out of Britain because of the activities of anti-vivisection campaigners.

The Swiss firm Novartis, the fifth largest drugs manufacturer in the world, said that it was increasingly concerned for the safety of scientists.

The company, which also has centres in France and Germany, is focusing its expansion on China, where it is trying to isolate the active ingredients in herbal medicines.

Dr Daniel Vasella, the Novartis chairman, said that protests were causing him to question continuing activities in Britain, where its operations are centred at a £40 million research establishment in Horsham, West Sussex. He told The Guardian: “The UK is the worst. It is scaring our people. If they become so scared that it becomes a major issue we could come close to leaving.” He said that members of the company’s 3,000-strong British workforce have suffered intimidation and physical threats which had made him feel “uncomfortable”.

Professor Paul Herrling, director of corporate research, has raised the issue of animal rights activism with Lord Sainsbury, the Science Minister. The company’s fears came after last week’s unprecedented injunction preventing eight anti-vivisection activists from disrupting the work of a new £18 million animal testing laboratory at Oxford University.

The High Court order established anti-protest exclusion zones to protect the premises, students and staff and has banned the individuals from contacting anyone concerned with the centre by e-mail.

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