Ribi, Edgar, 1920-1986

Edgar Ribi was born September 5, 1920, in Zurich, Switzerland. Ribi attended the Bern Institute of Technology from 1937 to 1940. He graduated with a diploma in Chemical Engineering. Ribi then attended the University of Bern and received Ph.D's in chemistry, physics, and mineralogy between 1940 and graduated magna cum laude in 1948. His thesis was on chemistry, morphology, and the crystal structure of inorganic colloids, examined by electron microscopy and electron and x-ray diffraction.

He married Karin Smith in 1951 and sired two children: Nils Andrew, and Hans Oliver. The Ribis came to the U.S. and became naturalized citizens.

From 1946 to 1948 Ribi was the instructor of analytical chemistry at Bern, Switzerland. He became the research associate to Professor T. Svedberg at the Institute of Physical Chemsitry in Upsala, Sweden. While there, Ribi also worked to perfect techniques on electron microscopy at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Labs in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1951, he became the research associate to Professor A Tiselius, and worked on plant and animal fibrous tissues. From 1952 to 1958, he was a visiting scientist at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for NIH. He reseached the fine structure of microbial cells and the immunologically-active cell constituents and vaccines. He also invented the Ribi Cell Fractionator, which broke cells open without harming them. From 1959 until his retirement in 1980 he was the head of the biophysics section of the NIAID Lab in Hamilton, Montana.

In 1981, he founded Ribi ImmunoChem Research, which became a leading biochemical research company, in Hamilton, Montana. The company worked on anti-cancer agents, anti-infectious agents, and super vaccines. Some of the products it developed were Ribigen (an anti-tumor agent used in cattle), Detox (a human anti-cancer agent), and Ovamid (an anti-tumor agent intended for treating ovarian and cervical cancers). The company received numerous patents for its products. Ribi ImmunoChem was acquired in 1999 by Corixa Corporation for $58.5 million, and continued operations in Hamilton.

From the guide to the Edgar Ribi Papers, 1950-1986, (University of Montana--Missoula)