Soligenex, the company developing a heat-stable ricin vaccine, received an additional $2.5 million in funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), for work on RiVax, their ricin vaccine.
August 16th, 2017“….RiVax® is Soligenix’s proprietary heat stable recombinant subunit vaccine developed to protect against exposure to ricin toxin. With RiVax®, Soligenix is a world leader in the area of ricin toxin vaccine research.
RiVax® contains a genetically altered version of a Ricin Toxin A (RTA) chain containing two mutations that inactivate the toxicity of the ricin molecule. A Phase 1A clinical trial was conducted with a formulation of RiVax® that did not contain an adjuvant. This trial revealed dose dependent seroconversion as well as lack of toxicity of the molecule when administered intramuscularly to human volunteers. The adjuvant-free formulation of RiVax® induced toxin neutralizing antibodies that lasted up to 127 days after the third vaccination in several individuals…..”
“…..About Ricin Toxin
Ricin toxin is a lethal plant-derived toxin and potential biological weapon because of its stability and high potency, and the fact it is readily extracted from by-products of castor oil production. Ricin comes in many forms including powder, mist or pellet. Ricin can also be dissolved in water and other liquids.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the lethal dose in humans is about the size of a grain of salt.
Ricin toxin illness causes tissue necrosis and general organ failure leading to death within several days of exposure.
Ricin is especially toxic when inhaled. Ricin works by entering cells of the body and preventing the cells from making the proteins it needs.
Without the proteins, cells die, which is eventually harmful to the entire body.
There are currently no effective treatments for ricin poisoning.
The successful development of an effective vaccine against ricin toxin may act as a deterrent against the actual use of ricin as a biological weapon and could be used in rapid deployment scenarios in the event of a biological attack…..”