A NEW painless anaesthetic is expected to be the first product on the market from Oxford pharmaceutical company Powderject.

The company, based at Oxford Science Park, is developing a painless injection device, which avoids the need for needles and syringes.

Powderject says it will not become profitable until its first product is launched. This is expected to be Lidocaine, a local anaesthetic, which is due to start a final clinical trial next autumn.

The company has decided to test it on children, having discovered that there is a big market for a painless paediatric anaesthetic. This means a delay in launching the product, because children's medical trials are more complicated than adults.

The company, which scooped the innovation award in this year's Oxfordshire Business of the Year awards, announced an increased £7.7m loss for the six months to September, compared with £4.8m last year. Turnover increased from £1m to £1.2m.

Powderject says it has made good progress with a flu vaccine, which is now being tested in the lab and also held the first European DNA vaccine trial in healthy volunteers.

The company has also successfully tested an impotence treatment on men with erectile dysfunction.

Chairman Paul Drayson, Oxfordshire's business person of the year, said: "This follows previous positive results on healthy volunteers."

A collaboration with pharmaceutical company Boehringer Mannheim has ended following its takeover by Hoffmann-La Roche.

Powderject is building vaccine manufacturing plants in the United States and staff numbers have increased to 199. They are expected to rise to 250 by the spring.

Story date: Wednesday 08 December

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