US tonic fails to revive Acambis

DRUGS group Acambis has begun delivering smallpox vaccine to help the US government innoculate its citizens in the event of a bioterrorist attack. The deal, worth £330m over three years, could lead to major orders from other governments.

Surprisingly, Acambis was not asked to bid for a £32m contract to supply the UK with smallpox vaccine. That order went to rival PowderJect, whose chairman Paul Drayson has made two £50,000 donations to the Labour Party.

Acambis boss John Brown refuses to comment on speculation that the British government bought an inferior strain of vaccine from PowderJect. He says: 'We've made incredible progress, going from concept to putting the vaccine in a bottle in 10 months.'

Acambis made a first-half loss of £6m against £5.5m last year, but should be profitable by year-end. The shares slipped 30 1/2p to 230 1/2p, but Deutsche Bank set a target price of 497p. PowderJect fell 31p to 228 1/2p.