Dec 1, 2022

Vaccine partnership deal inked for Botanical Solution

A discovery from agriculture is being used for human disease prevention. Botanical Solution Inc. (BSI), a botanical products provider, has entered into a partnership agreement to accelerate production of an ingredient to help strengthen vaccines.

The partnership with Croda Pharma is to build a supply chain and deliver QS-21, a vaccine adjuvant, or ingredient, used in vaccines that help create stronger immune responses in people receiving vaccines, to the pharmaceutical industry.

The partnership takes BSI’s laboratory grown and extracted Quillaja Saponaria, from the soapbark tree, producing pharma grade quantities of QS-21, the ‘Gold Standard’ vaccine adjuvant used in shingles, malaria, Covid-19 vaccines, and some promising new tuberculosis and RSV vaccine candidates, according to a BSI spokesman. Quillaja Saponaria is used as natural biofungicides in crop protection.

The Davis, California, agricultural technology company develops botanical products including biofungicides. It supplies advanced botanical materials (ABM) for agricultural and pharmaceutical applications. The partnership agreement was announced at the World Vaccine and Immunotherapy Congress West Coast 2022 in San Diego the week of Nov. 28.

QS-21 is traditionally extracted from the tree native to Chile, which BSI created a biofungicide from the tree’s extraction. However, regulatory restrictions limit deforestation of the tree, while projected demand for QS-21 is in the billions of doses annually and increasing, according to the release.

BSI patented a unique method of growing the tree in a lab and extracting the tree’s active ingredient. BSI’s proprietary manufacturing processes produces QS-21 without sourcing raw materials from forests or plantations. To accomplish this goal, the company relies on its plant tissue culture platform for production of high quality Quillaja saponaria biomass.

BSI’s tissue-culture platform and ABM are the basis for the company’s Quillibrium, distributed by Syngenta in Latin America.

“BSI and Croda Pharma are natural partners with a shared vision on removing the barriers that have prevented mass adoption of QS-21 for developing highly efficacious modern vaccines,” Gaston Salinas, CEO, said in the release. “Through this partnership, we aim to supply kilogram-quantities of a truly sustainable GMP QS-21.”

Croda Pharma develops excipients, including vaccines, and high-purity materials for pharma formulations.

“BSI’s unique and innovative processes for growing Quillaja Saponaria biomass in their labs and then extracting the QS-21 from these young plants is a game-changing approach,” Peter Tygesen, Croda’s head of adjuvant business, said in the release.

BSI employs a proprietary research and development platform for sustainable and improved production of consistent and quality ABMs. BSI’s Quillibrium was recently named “Best Biological Product of the Year” at the S&P Crop Science Award, formerly the Agrow Awards.

PHOTO ABOVE: Quillaja saponaria trees growing in Botanical Solution’s laboratory will accelerate production of an ingredient discovered in agricultural research to help strengthen vaccines.