Protest group invades

ANIMAL rights activists occupied the Bell Lane, Lewes, headquarters of Roche Diagnostics on Tuesday.

Eight demonstrators spent almost an hour roaming through the offices of the company before peacefully leaving with a police escort.

No one was arrested but a Roche spokesman was at pains on Wednesday to make it plain that the Lewes division of the company is involved in the sale and marketing of equipment for the diagnosis and monitoring of disease and does not itself carry out any animal research.

The demonstrators, thought to be from Brighton, walked unannounced into the building in the morning.

Some staff left hurriedly but returned when it became clear that the protest was a peaceful one.

They then occupied different parts of the building to the protesters until police arrived.

The group said they were protesting against Roche s alleged connections to vivisection laboratory Huntington Life Science.

A police spokesman said the protesters left peacefully after short discussions.

And Roche on Wednesday said: We acknowledge the right of protesters to make their case in a legitimate and peaceful manner.

Scientific procedures with animals are required by law before human volunteers may be used in clinical trials.

Animal research is therefore essential to help scientists evaluate the safety and efficacy of new medicines.

The company is committed to the highest standards of care for the animals we use in scientific procedures and to finding non-animal alternatives as quickly as possible.

Where legally and scientifically possible, medical procedures at Roche are conducted without the use of animals.

Since 1994, Roche has reduced animal testing by 70 per cent.

Roche is very conscious of public concerns about using animals in scientific procedures and accepts that many people would like all such work stopped.

However, at this time, the use of animals in the development of important and often life-saving drugs and technologies is required on scientific grounds, as well as by the law.