Brian Bellhouse
| Brian Bellhouse | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1937 |
| Died | 12 June 2017 (aged 79–80) Guestling, East Sussex, England |
| Cause of death | Trampled to death by a herd of cows |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Academic, engineer, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of PowderJect |
| Relatives | Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson |
Brian Bellhouse (c. 1937 – 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 University of Oxford.
Bellhouse received a degree in Mathematics from Magdalen College, Oxford, followed by a DPhil in Engineering Science in 1964.
He was appointed a lecturer and elected a tutorial fellow at Magdalen College in 1966. In 1998, he became a professor of engineering science, and established and supervised the department's Medical Engineering Unit. He retired in 2004 and was appointed an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College.
In 1992, Bellhouse was at work on a "powdered injector to deliver genetic material into plant cells" when he wondered if he could use the same method on people. A few hours after injecting himself with finely ground salt, the skin began to bleed. As he explained, "Salt bursts the red blood cells. This proved that it had worked. And it was utterly painless. It felt like a puff of air".
Bellhouse developed PowderJect, a needle-free and pain-free injection system which shoots fine powder into the skin at high speed, and his son-in-law Paul Drayson brought along the financing needed to turn it into a commercial reality. PowderJect Pharmaceuticals became a public company in 1997 with a £50 million market valuation. It was later sold to Chiron Corporation for £542 million, and has been called "one of the most successful companies ever to be spun out of Oxford [University]".
With the profits he gained from the sale of PowderJect Phamaceuticals, Bellhouse became a major donor to Oxford University, including a "substantial gift" towards the building of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and the endowment of the Oxford-Bellhouse Graduate Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering at Magdalen College.
He was the father-in-law of the Labour peer and former Minister of Science, Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson. He resided in Winchelsea, East Sussex.
On 12 June 2017, he was trampled to death by a herd of cows while walking in a field at Church Lane, Guestling, East Sussex.
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