first French antidote against ricin

In 1971, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the author of The gulag archipelago, did not succumb to ricin. This formidable poison had been administered to him by the KGB, the Soviet secret services. But, if ricin paralyzes cell function and causes organ failure, death is not guaranteed. It depends on the dose. The dissident escaped with ulcers on his face and three months of convalescence.

This poison has not gone out of fashion. He now has the favor of the Islamic State. This has developed tutorials for manufacturing the substance, noted, in 2021, Laurent Nuñez, current Minister of the Interior. This is why castor seeds were found in several terrorists in Europe, such as Mohamed Medjdoub, author, in Lyon, of the attack on rue Victor-Hugo in 2019.

20 million euros in contracts

If ricin remains popular with killers, it is because it costs almost nothing. It can be extracted from castor oil, a common plant, with chemistry skills. And because there was no antidote. Until January 12, 2026, the date on which the start-up Fabentech, located in Saint-Priest (Rhône), revealed that it had obtained marketing authorization for its antiricin remedy, Ricimed. In the event of a ricin attack, the medication may be administered intravenously. “Those affected often die after several days. We therefore have a window of opportunity,” explains Sébastien Iva, president of Fabentech.

The man is enjoying his success: “We will be able to sell Ricimed to the four European countries with which we had signed contracts, for 20 million euros. And we are going to get closer to states accustomed to building up strategic stocks, in Asia, the Middle East, and North America.” A major success for this young company born in 2009 which markets its first treatment. “Until then, we only did research. We are changing era,” says Sébastien Iva.

Lyon technology

Fabentech can pride itself on having outstripped its rivals in this niche field of research against bioterrorism or rare viruses. How to explain this feat? “The Lyon region is a fertile ground for researchers and academic centers in biology,” says the president of Fabentech, “and we have been supported by the Mérieux Institute, the European Commission and the Ministry of the Armed Forces*.” This success was also based on the mastery of the manufacture of polyclonal antibodies, coming from Sanofi, and sold by the French pharmaceutical champion to Fabentech in 2009. This technology, according to its researchers, can overcome any pathogen or virus, or even entire families of viruses. This would provide remedies against future mutations.

Will Fabentech become the next pharmaceutical giant? “We hope so. But there are still obstacles,” says Sébastien Iva. Among them, a development of four to five years, and costly. The company hopes to find other financiers to grow. In the meantime, she is working on other poisons, kept secret so as not to give rise to unfortunate ideas.

* The latter had subsidized Fabentech since 2017 to face the terrorist threat.