Patent makes bio tech company 'big in Japan'

VACCINE developer BigDNA has been awarded a patent in Japan to protect the technology it is using in the fight against flu and chlamydia.

The Roslin-based firm is developing bacterial viruses to deliver vaccines, rather than traditional methods that involve giving a patient a small dose of the disease against which they are being vaccinated.

Chief executive John March said: "This is an important commercial milestone for BigDNA and is great news for Scotland.

"Japan is an important region for us, being the third-largest market for vaccines, and it is forecast that vaccine uptake in Japan is set to increase."

The patent follows the awarding last year of protection for the company's hepatitis-B vaccine by the Japanese authorities.

The latest patent also builds upon the links that BigDNA already has with Asia, including a collaboration with the China Agricultural University in Beijing to develop a vaccine against chlamydia in pigs.

Last year, the Scots company raised 2 million from private investors in Hong Kong and the Channel Islands and Scottish Enterprise's venture fund.

BigDNA, which was spun out from the Moredun Institute four years ago, raised 1.5m in 2008 from Scottish Enterprise's co-investment fund and a group of private investors, having previously raised 300,000 in venture capital funding.

The firm was founded with a proof of concept award from Scottish Enterprise.