Increasing numbers of suppliers to British drug companies are being scared away by extremist animal rights protesters, threatening the future of research in the country, industry leaders said on Wednesday.

In the last quarter of 2004 there were 42 such “capitulations” by firms supplying essential goods and services to companies engaged in animal research, according to figures from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

That compares with 22, 23 and 26 cases in the previous three quarters. There was also a big increase in the number of abusive and threatening phone calls to companies and a steady rise in cases of damage to property.

“The fact that more and more suppliers are being forced to drop their business with companies involved in animals research is especially ominous,” said Philip Wright, ABPI director of science and technology.

“If this trend continues, it is by no means fanciful to suggest that pharmaceutical companies will seriously consider whether it is still appropriate to carry out this essential research work in the UK.”

GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, Britain’s two biggest drugmakers, have both warned in the past that animal rights extremists are deterring investment in the sector.

Britain is home to some of the world’s most vociferous animal rights activists and has seen a wave of often violent protests against pharmaceutical companies and contract research laboratories over the use of animals to test out new medicines.

In the past two years they have extended their harassment from companies directly involved in research to their suppliers and sub-contractors.

In one of the highest profile cases, work on an animal research laboratory at Oxford University was halted last year after animal rights activists targeted contractor Montpellier Group, threatening both its staff and shareholders.

Britain’s oldest drug-testing laboratory, Huntingdon Life Sciences, was forced in 2001 to turn to the Bank of England for banking facilities after other banks refused to handle its accounts.

The figures released by the ABPI showed there were a total of 108 threatening and abusive phone calls or text messages in 2004 and 177 instances of damage to company, personal and private property.