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Glaxo Funds Told to Resist Animal Rights 'Blackmail'

Posted on: Thursday, 18 May 2006, 15:06 CDT

By Ian Lyall, Daily Mail, London

May 18--GlaxoSmithKline boss Jean-Pierre Garnier called on investors not to crumble in the face of "blackmail" following the latest round of intimidation from animal rights extremists.

His comments appear to have been aimed at GSK's big shareholders.

A number of City institutions have rallied around in support of the company and small investors, who have been targeted by the latest action. But many big funds have remained quiet.

"It is not the time to flee the battlefield and give in to blackmail by a very small group," Garnier said before addressing the company's annual meeting.

The GSK chief executive praised the public show of support by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who this week signed a petition backing animal tests and pledged a further clampdown on extremists. Garnier said: "I have always said that politicians should walk the walk and not just talk the talk and think by his actions he has done just that." Around 150 private investors -- many of them elderly -- have been sent letters threatening to post their details on a website unless they dump their shares.

The campaign is linked to the firm's continued use of research group Huntingdon Life Sciences -- a long standing target for activists.

That did not prevent investors turning out in their hundreds for the gathering in central London.

Protesters were not allowed to picket the meeting because it was held close to Parliament which is enclosed within a one-mile exclusion zone.

Separately, Garnier's contract has been extended to May 2008 from October next year so he can usher in a new wave of blockbuster medicines, including a vaccine for cervical cancer.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Daily Mail, London

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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GSK,

Source: Daily Mail

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