Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Rhizomia (A novel cost-efficient hydroponic technology to grow high value plant roots for nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals & cosmetics)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-03-01 bis 2021-05-31
Out of 391,000 plants known to science only 31,000 have practical applications. 18,000 are classified as medicinal plants, which means they have a documented medicinal effect. But only 150 plants are cultivated industrially. Plant roots provide many of the important biologically active ingredients found in nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food additives & other products. Production of such active ingredients from plants (cultivated by horticultural means or harvested in the wild) is not sufficient to meet the growing market demand. Worse, harvesting of wild plants in many cases poses a significant threat to various species & to their ecosystems, as overharvesting can decrease stocks of the plant and lessen the biodiversity of the area. Despite restrictions & bans in the US up to 90% of wild ginseng is harvested unsustainably, which raises questions about possible extinction of the plant. Increasing demand on ginseng driven by China’s swelling middle class boosts ginseng prices and tempts poachers all over the world. The major issues in the cultivation of medicinal plants in horticulture are both the speed of plant growth, requiring excessive oversized facilities, and very precise control of the cultivation conditions to guarantee a stable and sufficient active ingredient composition. Vertical farming combined with robotics and ultra-controlled growing conditions would make it possible to achieve these profitability objectives. Botalys has developed a technology for growing plants in sterile conditions, which makes it possible to produce medicinal plants with profitability. This proprietary technology is being scaled up on the 2T / year robotic production prototype and having received FSCC22000 certification for the cultivation of medicinal plants in September 2019, which is a world first. As part of this project, our main focus is on the production of Panax Ginseng, Asian ginseng.The aim is also to show that the cultivation of medicinal plants in a highly controlled manner makes it possible to obtain a concentration of stable active ingredients in the plant, without the need for extraction. By keeping the full-spectrum side specific to traditional Chinese medicine but in a controlled and standardized way like Western medicine, Botalys studies by clinical trials in-vitro but also in-vivo on human, the effectiveness of its plants completely characterized from a chemical point of view. Botalys' vision is to bring traditional oriental medicine closer to the rigor of western medicine.
In WP1, an industrialization dossier has been largely produced. We produced 800 kg of ginseng roots to supply the marketing tests, despite numerous problems linked to the scaling-up of the technology. Finally, a quality system was put in place and we obtained FSCC22000 certification for the cultivation of medicinal plants and their transformation. Finally, production trials of a new plant, Salvia Milthiorrhiza, were launched on the semi-automated industrial prototype. In WP2, we carried out a comparison of our HRG80 product with the main ginseng competitors of the European and American markets, we were able to show that not only HRG80 was more concentrated in active ingredient than most of its competitors but that in addition it did not contain neither heavy metals nor pesticides unlike most of its competitors, even sold under the name organic. Preclinical trials were realized on animals and on human. We launched a clinical trials on 50 tired healthy subjects. The results were very satisfactory with an improvement in concentration from the first day of use.
Then a second clinical trial was launched on 20 elderly people (Neurocode) measuring their EEG response to HRG80, normal ginseng and placebo administration. Again, we were able to observe an impact of HRG80 intake from the first day on the brain wave profile corresponding to a decrease in stress.
During the second part of the project, we performed a series of in-vitro tests to understand mechanistically how our ginseng works at the metabolic level (neuroprotection, neurogenesis in Alzheimer's models), at the transcriptomic level (on neuronal cell lines) as well as on colorectal cancer cell lines at the transcriptomic and epigenomic level. All these researches have already led to 2 patents and 5 publications.
The main purpose of the work under WP3 was to define the match between HRG80 and the different markets and then to build tailor-made tools to support commercial deployments according to the data collected. Based on market trials under WP4 and data collection through multiple business contacts and market analysis, the main obstacle to commercial deployments was the fact that some nutraceutical brands are not interested in true quality and the laboratories that see the interest to invest in very qualitative ingredients not necessarily see how to use it efficiently. The first aspect is mostly done and has led to identification of numerous potential clients which will lead to numerous contacts in 2020 and 2021. We have established a clear positioning (and spread it through WP5) and we have refined the “premium dimension” of the product and the brand. We also have positioned HRG80 as the perfect nutraceutical answer to “well aging”but we still need to develop the immunity aspect where HRG80 can make a difference. Work under WP5 was to communicate to increase awareness about our project and our product. After the work performed under WP3 and WP4, it also appeared that WP5 will need to be thorough enough to build a strong identity. Since, it progressively appeared that HRG80 is a “premium ingredient”, branding strategy has become a priority and a crucial tool for further commercial deployments. From an initially prebuilt website, we have decided to implement our own build allowing us to constantly improve the communication and content. We have also developed a stronger brand identity through distinctive visuals and lexical field. Every aspect of our communication is now unified under one message.
Then a second clinical trial was launched on 20 elderly people (Neurocode) measuring their EEG response to HRG80, normal ginseng and placebo administration. Again, we were able to observe an impact of HRG80 intake from the first day on the brain wave profile corresponding to a decrease in stress.
During the second part of the project, we performed a series of in-vitro tests to understand mechanistically how our ginseng works at the metabolic level (neuroprotection, neurogenesis in Alzheimer's models), at the transcriptomic level (on neuronal cell lines) as well as on colorectal cancer cell lines at the transcriptomic and epigenomic level. All these researches have already led to 2 patents and 5 publications.
The main purpose of the work under WP3 was to define the match between HRG80 and the different markets and then to build tailor-made tools to support commercial deployments according to the data collected. Based on market trials under WP4 and data collection through multiple business contacts and market analysis, the main obstacle to commercial deployments was the fact that some nutraceutical brands are not interested in true quality and the laboratories that see the interest to invest in very qualitative ingredients not necessarily see how to use it efficiently. The first aspect is mostly done and has led to identification of numerous potential clients which will lead to numerous contacts in 2020 and 2021. We have established a clear positioning (and spread it through WP5) and we have refined the “premium dimension” of the product and the brand. We also have positioned HRG80 as the perfect nutraceutical answer to “well aging”but we still need to develop the immunity aspect where HRG80 can make a difference. Work under WP5 was to communicate to increase awareness about our project and our product. After the work performed under WP3 and WP4, it also appeared that WP5 will need to be thorough enough to build a strong identity. Since, it progressively appeared that HRG80 is a “premium ingredient”, branding strategy has become a priority and a crucial tool for further commercial deployments. From an initially prebuilt website, we have decided to implement our own build allowing us to constantly improve the communication and content. We have also developed a stronger brand identity through distinctive visuals and lexical field. Every aspect of our communication is now unified under one message.
First of all, the main progress of the Rhizomia project is the production of several hundred kg of roots of a complex medicinal plant, Panax Ginseng, with an innovative production technology in vertical farming.Not only did we produce Panax Ginseng, but it also contains a high concentration of active ingredient, standardized by design thanks to the controlled conditions of technology. With this technology, we are also the first in the world to have obtained the FSSC22000 certification for growing plants. Rhizomia therefore introduces a new standard in the quality of medicinal plants on the world market (US, Europe, Asia).Finally, thanks to in-vitro and in-vivo clinical studies, we have obtained exceptional results proving the superior effectiveness of our ginseng produced in vertical hydroponics. Our technology allows us to overcome the variability intrinsic to the classic culture of medicinal plants. Our clinical results indicate that our strategy allows us to get closer in terms of scientific and industrial rigor to western pharmaceutical production standards. And that has a major impact on the future of medicinal plants to really heal people.The results of the clinical studies obtained and the studies in progress let us envisage many applications of HRG80 in food supplements (healthy brain aging, focus, sexual enhancement) but also in food applications such as energy drinks.