A VACCINE to prevent hepatitis B has been successfully injected using a pain-free technique pioneered by an Oxford company.

The 12 patients were given a low dose of the vaccine, using a small plastic gun called the Powderject, which propels powder through the skin at the speed of sound. All 12 had a protective response.

Powderject, based at Oxford Science Park, is developing the DNA vaccines with pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Wellcome.

Powderject chairman and chief executive Paul Drayson said: "Powderject scientists have confirmed that Powderject DNA vaccines can activate both the antibody and cellular arms of the human immune system, which are believed to be critical for achieving therapeutic efficacy against pre-existing disease."

"Only microgram quantities of DNA were needed, an important commercial and safety advantage over other technologies, which require up to 1,000 times more."

The complete results of the trial were reported by Michael Roy and Deborah Fuller to a conference in Bethesda, Maryland. The company also hopes to develop vaccines for autoimmune diseases and allergies, as well as treatments for a range of infectious diseases and cancer. The Powderject device could also be used for local anaesthetics, and to treat erectile dysfunction, migraine, osteoporosis and diabetes.

Scientist Brian Bellhouse invented the PowderJect drug delivery system at the medical engineering unit at Oxford University - and it was take up by his daughter, medical physicist Elspeth Drayson, who was at the department looking for research with commercial possibilities.

She met her husband Paul at an academic gathering, and persuaded him to use his business expertise to exploit the discovery.

They married just over a year after the company was set up in 1993.

Story date: Friday 16 April

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