Into commercial production
BSI was founded in Santiago in 2013 , thanks to $ 500,000 in funding from a local venture capital firm who were also one of the largest table grape exporters in Chile . In 2019 , it moved to Davis , California , one of the major centres of the biopesticides world . Botristop , as the biofungicide is known in Chile , is a 10 % extract from tissue-cultured Quillaja saponaria plants . At 30-60 days of age , these are inoculated into bioreactor systems so that they grow very rapidly and in the right conditions for the secondary metabolites to develop that are responsible for the biological activity . “ Along with supply , consistency in the active ingredients is one of the biggest challenges in botanicals ,” says Salinas . “ We collect materials in our lab every week and whether we grow a milligram , a gram , a kilo or even a tonne of dry material , the chemical composition , batch to batch , is almost identical .” The fresh biomass is reduced to a dry powder to ease the extraction of the active ingredient using natural solvents . Formulation is extremely simple : just add water . A dual mode of action relies on phenolic compounds to give it its fungicide activity to the product , while a systemic acquired response is triggered on plants treated with Botristop . Botristop was field-tested for several years and proven to be highly efficacious in the prevention and control of Botrytis cinerea , especially for conventional growers of blueberries , vines and vegetables . This disease affects the vast majority of high-value crops grown for export in countries like Chile , some of which travel anything up to 90 days to reach
BSI grows Quillaja Saponaria in vitro
their final market . Botristop is also said to be effective against many other fungal diseases .
Deal with a giant
At the time that BSI was seeking regulatory clearance in Chile in 2015 , Salinas and Zúñiga were travelling every year to Basel for the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting , one of the major events in the biologicals field . There , they began conversations with Syngenta , who were seeking partners for growth in Latin America . By 2018 , the two companies had concluded an exclusive distribution agreement and Syngenta launched Botristop in Chile in 2019 . New uses , such as sour rot , were approved in 2020 and Botristop now protects about 25,000 hectares across Chile . A rollout is planned in Peru later this year . Launch is also anticipated for Mexico and the US during late 2022 . During 2020 , the firm also appointed agrochemical industry veteran Marcus Meadows-Smith to its board of directors . “ Marcus brings a lot of experience to the company and he also believes we are doing something novel and important ,” Salinas says .
Meadows-Smith is currently CEO of BioConsortia , which makes microbial crop protection products . Before that , he had headed biopesticide business AgraQuest for four years until Bayer CropScience acquired it for over $ 400 million and he became head of biologics for Bayer CropScience . Because of the product ’ s unique modes of action , growers can achieve resistance management and export their produce worldwide , while meeting the strictest MRL guidelines . With the recent and forthcoming funding rounds , Salinas says , BSI is now at a very important moment in its development . It is transitioning from a single-product company to a portfolio company , while also expanding its footprint throughout Latin and North America . The company has submitted its registration dossier for Botristop in the US and is thinking about following suit in the EU during 2021 . The registration process in the EU can take six to seven years and requires significant financial resources , so , as well as pushing Botristop in existing markets , the new investment will be used to finance new developments . ‣
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