Corixa announced recently that it has decoded the group of genes that are partly responsible for causing acne and that it intends to create a vaccine for the skin disorder. The biotechnology company said it has identified 30 proteins that act as antigens by causing the immune system to suppress acne. Corixa hopes that by combining two or three of these antigens, the company may be able to develop a drug that could act not only as a vaccine, but also as a treatment for the symptoms of acne, notably the presence of lesions known as pimples. To identify the genetic targets that assist the body in creating antibodies that suppress acne, the New York biotechnology company hired France's Genset to work out the precise order of 2.8 million pairs of genes in the acne genome.