Shares leap for animals row firm
Shares in Huntingdon Life Sciences, the research laboratory brought to the brink of closure by animal activists, soared as investors cheered its rescue package.
Huntingdon has secured crucial financial backing from anonymous US backers, which will see two foreign lenders paid off and the Royal Bank of Scotland writing off an £11 million loan.
The London Stock Exchange welcomed the deal, with shares in Huntingdon leaping ahead more than 80% today, rising 6.50p to 14.50p.
Huntingdon, which employs 1,200 staff, confirmed in a statement to the Stock Exchange that it now has enough working capital for at least another 12 months.
But the future is not all rosy, with animal activists vowing to track down its new backers, who have been granted anonymity by the Financial Services Authority.
Activists are vowing to continue their campaign against Huntingdon whilst turning their attention to UK pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, whose share price was down 9p at £17.90.
Dawn Gifford, a spokeswoman for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, says: "We have already targeted Glaxo for a number of months on a low level. They won't be our only target, but they are a target."
Huntingdon's managing director Brian Cass told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "I think the whole medical research community is not yet out of the woods. We are just the lightning rod for the whole industry at the moment.
"I think everybody should be aware because this is a reflection of the state of law in this country. I think it is a warning for everybody."
Mr Cass also says his company has been inundated with calls of support from members of the public in the past week.
