ANN ARBOR — Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) announced an agreement between its subsidiary Prodigy Textiles Co. Ltd. and three farming cooperatives in Quang Nam province, Vietnam.
Under these agreements, the farmers will produce the mulberry necessary to support the Company’s recombinant spider silk production.
This collaboration with local farmers is a key element of Kraig Labs commercialization strategy, integrating advancements in high tech agriculture and a diverse supply base with the company’s spider silk production technology.
Kraig has developed genetically engineered silkworms who have had several spider genes spliced into their DNA, allowing them to produce silk with some of the strength and toughness properties of spiderweb fibers.
“The strength of our approach in creating cost effective and commerciality scalable spider silk has always been based on the use of the existing silk infrastructure,” said Jon Rice, Kraig COO. “Today’s announcement, that we are developing collaborative relationships with these farming cooperatives, is a perfect example of that strategy put into action. These efforts will provide us with sufficient mulberry to meet our production expansion plans for the next several years. In the coming months we expect to expand this model of collaboration by incorporating efforts with downstream processors such as reeling and thread finishing.”
Prodigy Textiles, signed three memorandums of understanding with independent farming cooperatives at a signing ceremony held at its recently announced new facility in Quang Nam province.
The company thanked consultants who helped them on the agreements, led by Kenneth Le.
“Mr. Le has demonstrated an incredible dedication to advancing this technology,” said Kraig CEO and Founder Kim Thompson. “He has been generous with his time while proving unmatched knowledge of international business and an ability to conduct business in Southeast Asia. Beyond the company’s appreciation, I would like to personally thank Ken for his sage advice, his honesty, and his guidance throughout this process. Together, we continue to break new ground in the commercialization of spider silk.”
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