PowderJect Pharmaceuticals was a British vaccine, drug and diagnostics delivery company founded by

Brian Bellhouse Brian J. Bellhouse (1 October 1936 – 12 June 2017) was a British academic, engineer, and entrepreneur, the inventor of PowderJect, a needle-free injection system for delivering medications and vaccines. He was also a professor at the Universi ...

. They developed a needle-free injection system for delivering medications and vaccines. In 1993, PowderJect was spun out of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

with the help of

Isis Innovation Oxford University Innovation Limited (OUI) is a British technology transfer and consultancy company created to manage the research and development (R&D) of University spin-offs. OUI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford, and ...

. In 2003, the company was taken over by the American

Chiron Corporation Chiron Corporation ( ) was an American multinational biotechnology firm founded in 1981, based in Emeryville, California, that was acquired by Novartis on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. ...

for £542 million. The company's CEO was

Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson (born 5 March 1960), is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced I ...

, son-in-law of the founder,

, and they received £100 million following the takeover. Drayson received £43m for his 8% holding, Bellhouse £19.5m for his 3.6% stake, and their family trusts received £41m.

References

{{Reflist 1993 establishments in England 2003 disestablishments in England Pharmaceutical companies established in 1993 Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2003 Pharmaceutical companies of England Vaccine producers Companies associated with the University of Oxford