HERE comes the sun . . . in drug form. Scientists have devised a new compound that could put an end to expensive trips to the tanning salon or risky sunbathing in the back garden.

The drug creates an instant tan but at the same time protects against skin cancer.

Yet there are still downsides: early tests required 30 separate injections and the pilot scheme has left some human guinea pigs feeling sick and faint.

Once this feeling of nausea can be overcome, however, it could become a designer drug for those seeking the permanent tan of Robert Kilroy-Silk without the trouble of lying under sun lamps.

When the scientists injected the drug into volunteers in Sydney, Australia, their skin became significantly darker and the sunburn risk was halved.

A compound in the injection triggers the production of melanin, the brown pigment that gives the skin its colour and which acts as a sunscreen to protect the skin from ultraviolet light, the chief cause of skin cancer.

In Britain more than 100,000 cases of skin cancer are reported each year. About 1,700 Britons die from skin cancer every year, with about 100 of those thought to be the result of sunbeds and tanning lamps. But there is still a massive market for bronzing treatments and last year £28m was spent on self-tanning.

The body increases its production of melanin in response to exposure to the sun which is why people tan, but there needs to be significant exposure to the sun’s rays, or a tanning lamp, before this occurs.

The theory behind the new compound, a hormone, is that it triggers the production of melanin without the need for the skin to be burnt first.

The results of a trial involving 79 people being reported in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology this week show that the compound, injected into the abdomen in three 10-day cycles over three months, is highly effective.

Melanin density in the skin increased significantly in all the men and women who had the injections. The average increase was 41%.

At the end of the 90-day study there was a reduction of more than 50% in sunburn cell injury.

“This study has shown for the first time the potential ability of a synthetic hormone that augments melanin production to provide photoprotection to people who normally burn in direct sunlight,” say the researchers in their report.

“In the face of increased deterioration of the ozone layer, and the increasing incidence of skin cancer, the ability to stimulate the skin’s own ‘protective mechanism’ of tanning may prove extremely important as an additional photo-protective strategy.”

The results of the trials show that injections were associated with four side effects: nausea, facial flushing, fatigue and vomiting. A dozen of those involved in the tests dropped out because of these side effects.

The report says the downsides could be reduced by reformulating the drug as one that could be injected in a way that releases lower doses over a longer period of time.

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