Four Oxfordshire companies have won Government awards to develop pioneering medical treatments, writes Maggie Hartford.

Imprint Pharmaceuticals, based at the Oxford Innovation Centre in Mill Street, has been given a 104,364 Smart award to develop a new way of treating skin diseases.

Small doses of medicine are painlessly delivered by an innovative hand-held device called the Imprinter.

Managing director Kevin Maynard said the device used fast-moving needles which did not hurt. He hoped it would improve treatment of some skin tumours, baldness and diabetic foot ulcers. Dr Maynard, a former business development manager with Powderject, said the Smart award, plus 400,000 raised from business angels and the Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network, would be used to develop a prototype for clinical trials.

Qudos Technology, based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, near Didcot, won 43,500 to develop a technique for assembling microelectronic and optical components.

Managing director David White said: "This Smart award will enable the company to move rapidly forward in an area of technology which is essential for the hybrid microelectronics and optical products of the new millennium."

Qudos clients include major electronics companies, Government organisations and small businesses.

Medpharma, based in Charlbury, gets a 45,000 Smart award to develop a more accurate test for prostate cancer, which affects nearly ten per cent of older men.

The fourth company, Proimmune, based at the Oxford BioBusiness Centre at Littlemore, also won 45,000 to investigate tests for T-cells, which fight infection in the body.

Chairman and chief executive Dr Nikolai Schwabe said: "The funding will jump-start our development of a very important class of biotechnology reagents for research and diagnosis."

* Bartington Instruments, of Witney, was presented with its third Smart achievement award for its low-field magnetic measuring instruments. The award was presented by Sir Robert May, chief scientific advisor to the Government, and Mr David Irwin, chief executive of the Small Business Service.