Botanical Solutions

About Botanical Solutions

Botanical Solution Inc. (BSI), established in 2013, operates at the intersection of biotechnology, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. The company was co-founded by industrial engineer Gastón Salinas and biologist Dr. Gustavo Zúñiga. Salinas, with a background in science-based ventures, serves as the CEO, while Dr. Zúñiga, a former Dean at the University of Santiago with extensive research experience in endemic Chilean plants, provided the foundational scientific expertise. Their collaboration aimed to translate a university research project into a global business, addressing critical supply chain and environmental issues in obtaining potent natural compounds.

BSI's core business revolves around its proprietary plant tissue culture platform, which enables the lab-based production of Advanced Botanical Materials (ABM). This method bypasses the need to harvest from natural-growth trees, specifically the Chilean native Quillaja saponaria, which is protected by deforestation laws. By growing the plant biomass in vitro, BSI ensures a consistent, scalable, and sustainable supply of high-purity active ingredients, free from geopolitical or environmental restrictions. The company operates laboratories and offices in Santiago, Chile, and Davis, California, having relocated its headquarters to the U.S. in 2019 to access the innovation and venture capital ecosystem.

The company serves two primary markets. For the agricultural sector, BSI produces Quillibrium®, a broad-spectrum biofungicide that controls diseases like Botrytis, Powdery Mildew, and Sour Rot in a variety of fruits and vegetables. This product, initially marketed as BotriStop® in Chile, is distributed through a key partnership with Syngenta and allows growers to meet strict Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) for export to markets like the EU. For the pharmaceutical industry, BSI manufactures QS-21, a crucial vaccine adjuvant used to enhance the immune response in vaccines for shingles, RSV, malaria, and COVID-19. This dual-market strategy allows BSI to capitalize on different revenue streams, with agricultural products selling for approximately $30-$50 per liter and the high-purity QS-21 commanding prices up to $400,000 per gram.

BSI's business model is centered on the production and sale of these advanced botanical materials and formulated products, either directly or through major distribution partners like Syngenta for agriculture and Croda International for the pharmaceutical-grade QS-21. The company has secured significant funding to fuel its expansion, including a Series A round that totaled over $23 million, to scale up GMP production of QS-21 and expand the global rollout of Quillibrium®.