Alibek's academic performance while studying
military medicine at the
Tomsk Medical Institute and his family's noted patriotism led to his selection to work for
Biopreparat, the secret biological weapons program overseen by the Soviet Union's
Council of Ministers. His first assignment in 1975 was to the Eastern European Branch of the
Institute of Applied Biochemistry (IAB) near
Omutninsk, a combined
pesticide production facility and reserve biological weapons production plant intended for activation in a time of war. At Omutninsk, Alibek formulated and evaluated various nutrient media and cultivation conditions for the optimization of
microbial growth. While there, he expanded his medical school laboratory skills into the complex skill set required for industrial-level production of
microorganisms and their toxins. After a year at Omutninsk, Alibek was transferred to the
Siberian Branch of the IAB near
Berdsk (another name of the branch was the Berdsk scientific and production base). With the assistance of a colleague, he designed and constructed a microbiology research and development laboratory that worked on techniques to optimize the production of biological formulations. After several promotions, Alibek was transferred back to Omutninsk, where he rose to the position of deputy director. He was soon transferred to the
Kazakhstan Scientific and Production Base in
Stepnogorsk (another reserve BW facility) to become the new director of that facility. Officially, he was deputy director of the Progress Scientific and Production Association, a manufacturer of fertilizer and pesticide. At
Stepnogorsk, Alibek created an efficient industrial scale assembly line for biological formulations. In a time of war, the assembly line could be used to produce weaponized
anthrax. Continued successes in science and biotechnology led to more promotions, which resulted in a transfer to
Moscow.
Biopreparat In Moscow, Alibek began his service as deputy chief of the biosafety directorate at
Biopreparat. He was promoted in 1988 to first deputy director of Biopreparat, where he not only oversaw the biological weapons facilities but also the significant number of pharmaceutical facilities that produced
antibiotics,
vaccines, sera, and
interferon for the public. In response to a Spring 1990 announcement that the Ministry of Medical and Microbiological Industry was to be reorganized, Alibek drafted and forwarded a memo to then General Secretary
Mikhail Gorbachev proposing the cessation of Biopreparat's biological weapons work. Gorbachev approved the proposal, but an additional paragraph was secretly inserted into Alibek's draft, resulting in a presidential decree that ordered the end of Biopreparat's biological weapons work but also required them to remain prepared for future bioweapons production. Alibek used his position at Biopreparat and the authority granted to him by the first part of the decree to begin the destruction of the biological weapons to dismantle biological weapons production and testing capabilities at a number of research and development facilities, including
Stepnogorsk,
Kol'tsovo,
Obolensk, and others. He also negotiated a concurrent appointment to a Biopreparat facility called Biomash. Biomash designed and produced technical equipment for microbial cultivation and testing. He planned to increase the proportion of its products sent to hospitals and civilian medical laboratories beyond the 40% allocated at the time. Information about the Soviet biological weapons program had already been provided in 1989 by the defected scientist
Vladimir Pasechnik. Alibekov has testified before the
U.S. Congress several times and has provided guidance to U.S. intelligence, policy, national security, and medical communities. He was the impetus behind the creation of a biodefense graduate program at the
Schar School of Policy and Government at
George Mason University, serving as Distinguished Professor of Medical Microbiology and the program's Director of Education. He also developed the plans for the university's
biosafety level three (BSL-3) research facility and secured $40 million of grants from the federal and state governments for its construction. Reporting the prospect of
Iraq gaining the ability to get hold of smallpox or anthrax, Alibek said, "there is no doubt that
Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction." However, no biological weapons were later found in Iraq.
Entrepreneur and research administrator Alibek was president, chief scientific officer, and chief executive officer at AFG Biosolutions, Inc in
Gaithersburg, Maryland, where he and his scientific team continued their development of advanced solutions for antimicrobial immunity. Motivated by the lack of affordable anti-cancer therapies available in
Eastern Europe and
Central Asia, AFG was using Alibek's biotechnology experience to plan, build, and manage a new pharmaceutical production facility designed specifically to address this problem. Alibek created a new pharmaceutical production company, MaxWell Biocorporation (MWB), in 2006 and served as its chief executive officer and president. Based in
Washington, D.C., with several subsidiaries and affiliates in the U.S. and
Ukraine, MWB's main stated goal is create a new, large-scale, high-technology, ultra-modern pharmaceutical fill-and-finish facility in
Ukraine. Off-patent generic pharmaceuticals produced at this site are intended to target severe oncological, cardiological, immunological, and chronic infectious diseases. Construction of the Boryspil facility began in April 2007 and was completed in March 2008; initial production was scheduled to begin in 2008. The stated intention was that high-quality pharmaceuticals would be produced and become an affordable source of therapy for millions of underprivileged who currently have no therapeutic options. Abilek stepped down as President of MWB in the summer of 2008 shortly after the facility opened. Alibek's main research focus was developing novel forms of therapy for late-stage oncological diseases and other chronic degenerative pathologies and disorders. He focuses on the role of chronic viral and bacterial infections in causing age-related diseases and premature aging. Additionally, he develops and implements novel systemic immunotherapy methods for late-stage cancer patients.
Work in Kazakhstan In 2010, Alibek was invited to begin working in
Kazakhstan as a head of the Department of Chemistry and Biology at the School of Science and Technology of
Nazarbayev University in
Astana, where he was engaged in the development of anti-cancer drugs and life-prolonging drugs, and was chairman of the board of the Republican Scientific Center for Emergency Medical Care and headed the National Scientific Center for Oncology and Transplantation. During his stay, he published a number of articles in research journals and taught various courses in various fields of biology and medicine. He focused on a possible role of chronic infections, metabolic disorders, and immunosuppression on cancer development. In 2011, he was awarded a prize from the Deputy Prime Minister for his contribution to the development of the educational system in Kazakhstan. In 2014, he was awarded a medal by the Minister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan for his contribution to research in Kazakhstan. He continues his work as an administrative manager of a research and medicine and education professor. However, after seven years, no significant scientific results from Alibek's work developed. During these seven years, Alibek received more than 1 billion Tenge from the budget for "New Systemic Therapy for Cancer Tumors" project he tried to implement. The promising Swedish technique has remained a common concept, a panacea for cancer treatment has not appeared. Three submitted Alibekov patent applications for registration were rejected by the National Institute of Intellectual Property of the
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan since there was no novelty. In 2016, Alibek was chosen as one of the nominees in the "Science" category of the national project El Tulgasy, which was designed to select the most significant citizens of Kazakhstan who are associated with national achievements. More than 350,000 people voted in this project, and Alibek was voted 10th place in his category.
COVID-19 Alibek has experience in vaccine development for pandemics. In 2006, his article on new principles for developing these vaccines was published in Future Medicine. In January 2020, Alibek issued a warning about COVID-19 and its potential as a global problem. His research on safe methods of protection against the virus ahead of a vaccine was later published in the journal Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO). He also wrote two chapters on methods to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic in the book Defending Against Biothreats: What We Can Learn from the Coronavirus Pandemic to Enhance U.S. Defenses Against Pandemics and Biological Weapons. In 2021, Alibek offered a free seminar on the antiviral biodefence in the world of epidemic uncertainties.
Autism research Starting in 2007, Alibek began researching
autism based on his background as a board-certified oncologist and his own personal connection to the disorder through his daughter, Mary. He supports the idea that the disorder is the result of prenatal viral and bacterial infections. Multiple studies have been conducted with patients that have autism spectrum disorder, including a 2018-2019 study with 57 patients, a 2021-2023 study with 142 patients and a 2023 study with 32 patients. In addition, more than 1,000 children have been treated using the protocol. His patients are located predominantly in nations in the former
Soviet Union and Ukraine, and he consults mainly using free telemedicine services. During these studies, specific inflammation markers along with biochemical and neuropsychiatric parameters were identified as an objective measure of improvement in and a reduction of symptoms. Alibek has published 6 studies in peer-reviewed journals about the causes and treatment of Autism, and has one issued U.S. patent and three U.S. patent filings on his novel approach to treatment. ==Criticism==