Marc Koska, inventor of the life-saving K1 syringe, flew to New York last week to receive one of the biggest awards in business.

The founder of Star Syringe, based in Nutley, near Uckfield, won a Stevie award for best multinational company in the 2005 International Business Awards.

He was presented with the trophy at a gala dinner at the Sheraton Hotel in the Manhattan, which was broadcast live on radio in the US.

The awards are the only global business awards programme honouring great performances in the workplace.

Star Syringe, which licences the K1 design to manufacturers, was praised for its "outstanding level of business practice and humanitarian efforts".

The K1 is a disposable syringe that can only be used once, which is helping to prevent the spread of killer diseases in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organisation, about 40 per cent of injections given in the developing world are unsafe, fuelling the spread of HIV and hepatitis.

Marc said: "We currently save 200,000 lives a month with our technology but it is still a small fraction of the problem caused by the reuse of syringes.

"I am very proud of my team and it is an honour to be singled out from so many businesses the world over."

Marc invented the K1 in 1996, overcoming scepticism about the need for safer injections.

Now "auto-disable" syringes, which break if an attempt is made to reuse them, are increasingly becoming the standard for all injections in developing countries.

Through its 17 licensee manufacturers worldwide, more than 300 million units of the K1 AD syringes have been produced.

June 1, 2005