Powderject jumps into the black

POWDERJECT has become Britain's second biotech group to make profits, before receiving a penny from the controversial £30m smallpox vaccine deal it made with the Government earlier this year.

It had net profits of £1.2m in the year ending last March but in the current financial year it expects to earn £25m from its deal to supply Britain's stockpiles of smallpox vaccine and from its vaccines for yellow fever, TB and other diseases.

The contract to supply the vaccine came after it was revealed that chief executive Paul Drayson had made two donations totalling £100,000 to the Labour Party. Today he said that he would remain a donor to Labour funds as the group announced its surprise profit a year ahead of schedule. It and Celltech are Britain's only profitable biotech groups.

Powderject still has £67.2m to fund further research and development. The Drayson family's 9% stake in the business was today worth £45m.