StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Developing a Ricin Vaccine

Although there have been other instances of its use, perhaps the most infamous Ricin attack was in 1978 when the Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov was assassinated by an injection from the tip of an umbrella as he waited for a bus in London. Although the KGB was suspected, no one has ever been arrested in the case.

Why is this important? Well it seems that a company called DOR BioPharma has developed a vaccine for Ricin exposure. "… Dor and its manufacturing partner, Cambrex BioSciences, developed a robust and reproducible manufacturing process for the large-scale production of its developmental RiVax vaccine and has now reached a crucial manufacturing milestone under a $6.4m (€5m) grant awarded in 2004 to make the vaccine by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)…

…the company will now test the vaccine in further clinical trials to examine the influence of an immunological adjuvant formulation and vaccination regimen on the human immune response and gather the evidence it needs to gain US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the vaccine…"

OTHER POINTS ABOUT RICIN

Ricin, which is extracted from castor beans, has a highly lethal toxicity in small doses, causing fever, nausea abdominal pain or lung damage, followed by death within a few days of exposure.

Because castor beans are readily available, ricin is easily manufactured and it is also easily aerosolised – making it all the more dangerous – however currently there is no prevention or cure for the deadly substance…

Naturally-derived substance…processed from castor beans

•Chemical in nature, rather than pathogen; Extremely deadly…no known antidote/vaccine; Injected, not ingested

750+ human exposures reported (14 deaths)

1995: Minnesota Patriots Council arrested for making ricin to kill a sheriff’s deputy and a U.S. marshal…33-month sentences under U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act

Jan 2003 – al Qaeda training manuals, castor beans & equipment found in London…Islamic militants arrested

U.S. Congress in February 2004