Novartis head suffers possible animal rights attacks

London Times
August 5, 2009

Novartis, the Swiss drugs group, is convinced it has come under attack from British animal rights extremists after the Austrian hunting lodge of Daniel Vassela, its chief executive, was set on fire and his mother's ashes stolen from a tomb.

A Novartis spokesman said graffiti left at the site and at other properties indicated the work of animal rights extremists. He said that the wall of the cemetery in Chur, Switzerland, had been scaled last week and the urn containing Mrs Vasella's ashes dug out, and the tombstone spray painted with the words "Drop HLS Now" - a reference to Huntingdon Life Sciences, the vivisection company that Novartis has used for drug tests.

Novartis said investigators at Mr Vasella's burnt-out hunting lodge in Austria's Tyrol region had found a "fire accelerator" - an inflammable fuel such as petrol - that was likely to have helped the fire to spread and indicated arson.

Mr Althoff said the investigators seemed to be confident that "animal rights extremists were involved. And our assumption is that it is definitely animal rights extremists. The Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC) has been the most active in this area."

Since late last year, attacks on Novartist by extremists appeared to have stepped up, said the group. The spokesman said that there had been an arson attack on a sports club run by Novartis in France, across the border from its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland in May. Windows of some employees' cars in Switzerland and Germany had been smashed, while graffiti had been sprayed on the walls of the homes of several executives.

Mr Vasella is selling his Austrian property and the company is stepping up security, although it would not elaborate.

It is understood the words "Death to Vasella" were spray-painted on a church in the Swiss village where Mr Vasella lives, and the words "Vasella is a killer. We are watching you" were spray-painted on the road outside his house.

SHAC has denied any involvement.

The spokesman said that Novartis no longer "to my knowledge" worked with Huntington.