BSI’s ABM are produced without sourcing raw materials from nature or conventional plantations, thanks to its proprietary plant tissue culture platform. Quillaja saponaria is the first ABM in large-scale production and is used to create both the powerful biofungicide Quillibrium® and the gold standard vaccine adjuvant QS-21, a critical component in FDA-approved vaccines such as shingles, malaria, RSV, and COVID. Additionally, promising new vaccine candidates and immunotherapy treatments such as cancer are being explored.
The company operates labs and offices in Davis, California and Santiago, Chile.
In 2013, young industrial engineer and hungry entrepreneur Gaston Salinas teamed up with biologist and Dean of the University of Santiago, Gustavo Zuniga, PhD, to co-found a Company originally to develop plant-based solutions for healthier and more sustainable agriculture.
Salinas, CEO, is an Industrial Engineer that has passionately built his professional career around science-based ventures and corporate innovation. The knowledge and practice acquired after ten years in professional consulting has allowed him to translate a promising research project from university into an international business with growing revenues and a solid value proposition for multi-billion dollar industries.
Co-founder and former CSO Zúñiga Navarro is a biologist, and former Dean and Associated Researcher at Universidad de Santiago de Chile. He has vast experience in the field and in applied research on endemic plants from Chile, including work on the only two known plant species from Antarctic territory. He holds several international inventions patents and publications.
Botanical Solution SpA, a duly incorporated business, started operations in Santiago, Chile to develop a botanical-based biofungicide from Quillaja saponaria plant tissue grown in lab.
Company’s first product, BotriStop®, is granted registration in Chile
After successful field trials, Syngenta exclusively distributed BSI’s biofungicide BotriStop® in Chile for its effectiveness against Botrytis.
Botanical Solution Inc. (BSI), is duly incorporated in Delaware with the goal of becoming a global player in the space of biocontrol. A bridge financing round, led by Sembrador Capital, El Coigue and a group of angel investors, is secured to pursue a strategic landing in California for the Company. BSI is sponsored by UC Davis Venture Catalyst to accelerate its introduction into Northern California’s innovation and venture capital ecosystem.
Following great adoption of Botristop in Chile, a new distribution agreement between BSI and Syngenta was announced for Peru. Botristop was renamed Quillibrium®, a global trademark that will accompany the product’s global roadmap. A new pharmaceutical business unit was created to pursue the development of a sustainable QS-21 made of raw materials free from deforestation or conventional plantations. BSI announced a Series A financing closing led by Otter Capital to enter the vaccine adjuvant space, accelerated the commercial rollout of Quillibrium for additional markets and created a pipeline of biocontrol products.
BSI and Croda International announced an agreement to accelerate the production of QS-21, the Gold Standard vaccine adjuvant at kilogram scale under GMP standards.