Former GlaxoSmithKline President (Europe), Dynavax CEO & UK Government Chair Covid-19 Taskforce to provide strategic guidance for Botanical Solution’s future development
DAVIS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eddie Gray, veteran pharmaceutical and vaccine industry executive, has joined the Board of Directors of Botanical Solution Inc. (BSI). Mr. Gray is the former President of GlaxoSmithKline Europe, former CEO Dynavax Technologies Corp. and former Chair of the UK Government’s Covid-19 Antivirals Task Force. Eddie earned his B.Sc. (Honors) in Chemistry and Management Studies from the University of London, and completed his MBA at the Cranfield School of Management, England.
Botanical Solution produces the Gold Standard vaccine adjuvant QS-21. Currently, QS-21 is a vital component in FDA-approved vaccines against Shingles, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Covid-19 and Malaria. QS-21 is at present extracted from an exotic tree, the Quillaja saponaria, which grows in the country of Chile. Chilean deforestation laws and supply chain issues have pushed the cost of QS-21 to over $400,000 per gram. BSI has developed a proprietary method of producing advanced botanical materials from Quillaja saponaria without cutting down trees. BSI’s novel platform can produce Quillaja saponaria in vitro using scalable tissue culture techniques that create ingredients at high purity and consistency at a low cost. BSI’s goal is to make QS-21 accessible to a wider range of vaccines and populations, particularly in low-income countries.
Botanical Solution’s CEO Gaston Salinas declared, “We are very excited to welcome Eddie Gray to the Board. He is the perfect addition to the BSI team. His experience as a veteran pharma and vaccine industry leader will be invaluable in guiding BSI into the future and expanding the use of BSI’s truly sustainable QS-21 worldwide.”
Eddie Gray commented, “I am very proud to join the BSI Board. BSI’s approach to the production of QS-21 is totally sustainable and has tremendous potential for use in many more vaccines which will help millions of people around the world.”
About BSI
BSI, a Delaware Corporation, has a proprietary R&D platform for truly sustainable and improved production of consistent and high- quality Advanced Botanical Materials (ABM). ABM-01 is the first ABM produced by the company, based on a tissue cultured plant called Quillaja saponaria. ABM-01 is the active ingredient used in two gold standard products, BSI’s biopesticide Quillibrium® and the adjuvant QS-21, used in modern vaccine development. BSI is revolutionizing sustainable QS-21 production with plant tissue culture technology, addressing industry challenges and ensuring a robust, eco-friendly supply and opening many new opportunities for vaccine developers.
BSI has received widespread industry recognition for its innovative method of in-lab cultivation of Quillaja saponaria trees, including the following Awards:
- 2025 Biotechnology & Lifescience Award for Best Adjuvants Development from Global Health & Pharma
- 2024 Excellence Award for Innovation from Pharmaceutical Technology
- 2024 Excellence Award for Business Expansion from Pharmaceutical Technology
- 2024 Award for Most Innovative Vaccine Enterprise from Global Health & Pharma
- Best Process Innovation 2023 Award from ICIS Chemical Business
- Company of the Year 2023 Award from UK’s Big Sustainability Awards Program
- New Biotech Business of the Year 2022 Award from BioProtection Forum
- Product of the Year 2022 Award from S&P Crop Science
Contacts
Media Contact:
info@botanicalsolutions.cl
Links
Website: https://botanical-solution.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/botanical-solution/
