ANN ARBOR—Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) Thursday announced the completion of construction at its new biotech research laboratory in Vietnam.
The Ann Arbor-based company, which has spliced spider genes into silkworms so that they spin cocoon fibers with the additional strength of spiderweb fibers, said the new lab in Quang Nam, Vietnam consists of 11 separate laboratories.
Company officials say the new labs are a key piece of its “spider silk” commercialization program and were part of the now-complete renovation efforts at the Prodigy Textiles factory, Kraig’s wholly owned subsidiary and production arm.
This new laboratory suite was built to support production ramp up and will serve as a testing and quality control facility for the commercialization of Kraig’s recombinant spider silk technologies. To ensure compliance with regulations related to genetically modified technologies, this laboratory was built to the design and specification of the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). Kraig officials say they anticipate using these new laboratories for the development of future innovations in spider silk fibers and products to compliment the company’s existing technologies, which are moving to commercialization.
“With these new laboratories and the completion of the Prodigy Textiles factory renovations, we are now ready to start the transition and expansion of our recombinant spider silk production into the new factory,” said COO Jon Rice. “We purposefully designed our laboratories to mirror those of the MoST, where the initial evaluation and approval of our specialized silkworms were finalized, in order to accelerate our commercial ramp up.”
The company plans to use the super-strong “spider silk” to make a wide variety of textiles and fabrics, starting with advanced protective clothing for the military.
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