Pharmaceuticals
We have produced and supplied the pharmaceutical industry with high-quality, high-purity precursors for two decades. At Desert King we have developed scalable technologies to produce adjuvant precursors from Quillaja, due to its high content of triterpenoid saponins with immunostimulant capacity.
What is QS-21?
Boost your Vaccine’s Immune Response with the world’s experts of scientific and sustainable solutions.
Vaccine adjuvants based on Quillaja saponins, obtained from our precursor, can be found in dozens of commercial human and veterinary vaccines manufactured by the world’s largest laboratories. New applications that include oncology, infectious diseases and other pathologies are also being studied.
To satisfy our customers’ growing needs, we have made significant progress in R&D to enhance performance, guarantee supplies and comply with the high standards that this market demands. Thus, we have established a strong integrated supply chain that ensures a sustainable production of high purity extracts.
Advantages of adjuvants formulated based on Quillaja saponins
It is a natural ingredient for vaccine formulation.
Lower antigen requirements.
Helps to boost weaker antigens.
It improves the duration and onset of the immune response.
It provides a more powerful and effective immune response for the prevention of various diseases.
They are compatible with other adjuvants.
Their surfactant properties make them ideal for the formulation of vaccines based on macromolecular complexes.
Quillaja saponins effectively stimulate the production of antibodies and also induce a strong activation of the cellular immune response, stimulating the production of cytotoxic T cells against exogenous antigens.
Sustainable sourcing of Quillaja raw material for the future and assured availability of innovative, validated and effective products.
Our commitment is to conserve native forest through our model of rational and sustainable forest management, which reduces the impact on it and revitalizes it, contributing to its adaptation to climate change.
We seek to improve control of the supply chain and work in partnership with all types of landowners.
We are aligned with laws on the promotion and recovery of native forests, and we want to contribute with techniques and development that help their recovery and protection.
Our biomass supply operation is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council®) certified.
We are pioneers in the development of Quillaja plantations with selected plants that have higher QS-21 content. (US Patent 11,254,699 B2)
The company develops and maintains lines of research focused on Quillaja’s requirements as a crop, making steady progress in the process of domesticating the species and its intimate relationship with the ecosystem. This reduces pressure on native forests.
We ensure immediate availability of innovative, validated, and effective Quillaja products, which allow high formulation flexibility and adapt to our customers’ diverse needs.
Adjuvant Precursors
Our company produces two ranges of Quillaja extracts that are adapted to the different needs of our customers
Extracts with high saponin concentration
Our extracts are used by customers as precursors for obtaining adjuvant formulations. They are currently present in commercial vaccines against Herpes Zoster (Shingles), Malaria and the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the coronavirus disease in 2019 (Covid-19).
If you wish to learn more about QS-21 we invite you to watch the following Video.
CHROMATOGRAPHICALLY PURIFIED SAPONIN FRACTIONS
We have developed technology over the last decade that allows us to produce specific saponin fractions with chromatographic methods, for direct use by customers in the formulation of adjuvants. The potential use of purified fractions of Quillaja extracts in vaccines against certain types of cancer, HIV, Tuberculosis, Alzheimer’s and Varicella Zoster is currently being studied.
Quillaja Saponin Fractions available for preclinical research:
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Aslanipour,B. 2017. Cycloartane-type glycosides from Astragalus brachycalyx FISCHER and their effects on cytokine release and hemolysis. Phytochemistry Letters 21 (2017) 66-73.
Beck,Z. 2014. Detection of liposomal cholesterol and monophosphoryl lipid A by QS-21 saponin and Limulus polyphemus amebocyte lysate. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta.
Ramakrishnan, A. 2019. Enhanced Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of a Campylobacter jejuni Conjugate Vaccine Coadministered with Liposomes Containing Monophosphoryl Lipid A and QS-21. American Society for microbiology.
Marty-Roix, R. 2015. Identification of QS-21 as an inflammasome-activating molecular component of saponin adjuvants. JBC Papers in Press
Alving,C. 2016. Liposomal vaccine adjuvant formulations. Academia Romana
Genito, C. 2017. Vaccine. Vaccine 35 3865-3874.
Noh et al. 2015. Programming of Influenza Vaccine Broadness and Persistence by Mucoadhesive Polymer-Based Adjuvant Systems
Hwee-Ing, N. 2016. Potent response of QS-21 as a vaccine adjuvant in the skin when delivered with the Nanopatch, resulted in adjuvant dose sparing. Scientific Reports
Cawlfield,A. 2019. Safety, toxicity and immunogenicity of a malaria vaccine based on the circumsporozoite protein (FMP013) with the adjuvant army liposome formulation containing QS21 (ALFQ) . Vaccine
Van Hoeven,N. 2018. A combination of TLR-4 agonist and saponin adjuvants increases antibody diversity and protective efficacy of a recombinant West Nile Virus antigen. NPJ Vaccines
Van den Sandt, C. 2014. Novel G3/DT adjuvant promotes the induction of protective T cells responses after vaccination with a seasonal trivalent inactivated split-virion influenza vaccine. Vaccine 32 (2014) 5614-5623