Desert King® and the Vaccine Formulation Institute: A Strategic Alliance for Global Access to Vaccine Adjuvants

Desert King® (DK) and the Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI) have joined forces in a strategic alliance to revolutionize global access to vaccine adjuvants. This collaboration combines VFI’s open access philosophy and expertise in adjuvant formulation with DK’s world-leading sustainable production and purification of immunostimulating Quillaja saponins. Together, DK and VFI offer vaccine developers licence-free access to a range of cost-effective liposomal and squalene-based emulsion adjuvants incorporating saponins.

A Portfolio of Innovative Adjuvants

At the core of this partnership is a next-Generation QS-21 (QS-21DV) saponin sub-fraction that provides the same performance as legacy QS-21 while offering key benefits for the vaccine industry:

• Cost-effectiveness: an optimized purification process significantly reducing production costs
• Sustainability: a reliable production model rooted in the responsible management of native Quillaja trees, backed by FSC®-certified traceability, contributing to forest conservation
• Accessibility: an open-access business model ensuring equitable access globally
• Adjuvant effect: an adjuvant effect indistinguishable from legacy QS-21
• Diverse portfolio: a portfolio of liposome and emulsion adjuvants available from a single provider (VFI) for comparative evaluation and selection of adjuvants

“This new QS-21 subfraction represents a significant advancement in adjuvant formulation, offering the same immunogenic potency as legacy QS-21. This innovation not only lowers economic barriers to vaccine development but also expands global access to more affordable and effective vaccines,” explained Damian Hiley, Business Development & Product Manager of Vaccine Adjuvants at Desert King®.

“One significant roadblock to develop vaccines of Global Health importance is the limited access to safe, efficacious and affordable adjuvants that are widely available to the vaccine community. VFI and DK’s strategic partnership, offering open-access adjuvants based on an innovative QS-21 saponin fraction, will address this challenge and will accelerate the development of life-saving vaccines worldwide,” explained Nicolas Collin, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at the Vaccine Formulation Institute.

Quillaja: A Natural Source of Innovation

Quillaja saponaria is a tree native to Chile with high biotechnological value due to its high concentration of saponins possessing powerful immune-stimulating properties. Desert King® has been a leader in forestry technology and responsible forest management for over 25 years, pioneering sustainable Quillaja cultivation to ensure a consistent, reliable and renewable supply of saponins for the vaccine development community.

The alliance between Desert King® and VFI represents a significant step in promoting global and equitable access to vaccine adjuvants. It reaffirms both organizations’ commitment to sustainability, science, and global health, setting a new standard in the development of openly accessible and effective adjuvants.

About Desert King®

With over 45 years of experience in natural solutions, Desert King® is a leader in sustainable forestry technology for the production and purification of Quillaja saponins. DK’s saponins are present in five globally approved vaccines, including those for shingles, malaria, COVID-19, and RSV manufactured by leading companies such as GSK and Novavax. DK’s key differentiators include:

• Market leadership: global leader in Quillaja saponin extraction and purification, backed by patented Quillaja plant varieties, extraction and purification technology.
• Sustainability & Responsible Forest Management & Plantations: extensive experience in managing sustainable, renewable, and homogeneous saponin sources.
• Customized solutions: ability to develop tailored saponin profiles.
• Commitment to quality: DK is the only Quillaja supplier in the world certified by EXCiPACT for full compliance with Good Manufacturing (GMP) and Distribution Practices (GDP) for pharmaceutical excipients. It also leads the industry as the only Quillaja saponin company with FSC® Chain of Custody and Controlled Wood Certification (FSC® C156804), ensuring sustainable and traceable sourcing from origin to final sale.

About the Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI)

VFI is a company based in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 12 years of experience in adjuvant development and vaccine formulation.

VFI’s mission is to facilitate global access to adjuvants and vaccine formulation know-how, by driving innovative research in adjuvants and vaccine formulation, and supporting preclinical and clinical development for vaccine developers and manufacturers worldwide.

VFI receives support from the Gates Foundation, the European Commission, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, the National Institutes of Health and other key stakeholders.

Over the past decade, VFI has built a portfolio of emulsion- and liposome-based adjuvants:

• Sepivac SWE™, a squalene-in-water emulsion, co-developed with Seppic. Sepivac SWETM is available from Seppic under open-access and at GMP grade, has been distributed since 2020 to numerous vaccine developers, and included in multiple clinical studies worldwide.
• SQ, LQ and LMQ saponin-containing adjuvants. These adjuvants are available from VFI at GMP-grade and under open-access for use in clinical studies
  • SQ: a squalene-in-water emulsion containing QS-21DV saponin
  • LQ: neutral liposomes containing QS-21DV saponin
  • LMQ: neutral liposomes containing QS-21DV saponin and a synthetic TLR4 agonist