SKINCARE specialist Derma-Salve yesterday announced an exclusive five-year distribution agreement of its hand gel worth at least £5m-a-year.

The Newcastle firm, which has seen its share price jump by almost a third over recent days, has secured the deal with South African sales and marketing organisation New Horizons.

The agreement will see Derma-Salve's SafeCleanse hand gel distributed initially within South Africa and then introduced across 40 other territories on the African continent.

The company hopes the deal will help push its share price back into double figures, having dropped below 10p in March, from 15.75p last September.

Over the past three months, its share price has lifted from a low of 4.375p to close before the weekend at a five-month high of 8.25p. It closed last night at 8.13p.

SafeCleanse gel is 99.9 per cent effective against the H5N1 "bird flu" virus, as well as against hospital superbug MRSA and cholera. It has also been proved to kill the HIV virus within 30 seconds of contact.

Under the terms of the deal, New Horizons has agreed to minimum revenue targets, starting at £5m next year with substantial annual increases through to 2012.

DermaSalve founder, Dr Mark Randle, said yesterday: "This is a milestone agreement for Derma-Salve and the SafeCleanse product and demonstrates our success in developing high-margin products for emerging markets.

"In addition to killing superbugs and viruses, the key benefit of SafeCleanse gel is that it is not alcohol-based and does not damage skin with frequent use."

DermaSalve was set up in 2003 by the County Durham GP, who decided to develop a range of creams for dry and sensitive skin after his son reacted badly to some baby treatments.

Earlier this summer, the company reported pre-tax losses of £2.95m for the year to December 31, compared to a loss of £521,000 the previous year. Revenue increased from £108,000 to £654,000.