ANN ARBOR — Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB), the Ann Arbor-based developer of genetically engineered silk fibers, announced that its Vietnamese subsidiary Prodigy Textiles completed the first cycle of silk moth mating and egg production scale up, at the Quang Nam factory.
The Prodigy Textiles operations team finished removing the cocoons from mounting frames Nov. 6 and silk moths began emerging Nov. 9. The breeding of the emerged moths is complete, with the specialized silkworm eggs now in incubation and expected to emerge shortly. Each female silk moth lays upwards of 200-500 eggs and, as previously announced, all of the emerged silk moths were dedicated to breeding stock expansion to rapidly scale up the company’s silk production capacity.
Over the coming weeks, the company expects to hatch and rear this second round of silkworms, then harvest the resulting cocoons for production of the first recombinant spider silk threads manufactured in Vietnam. The company will contract with a nearby reeling plant to convert the cocoons into finished silk yarn, which has already been committed to a textile manufacture for further fabric and product development.
Company officials said they plan to expand throughput over the next several quarters, to build up capacity, expand operations, and prepare to ship materials to collaborators and potential customers.
“The launch of each new production phase marks a significant Prodigy milestone, so this is an especially exciting time for Kraig Labs, which, after the years and efforts needed to overcome numerous challenges and regulatory hurdles, is successfully transitioning our technology from the lab to the factory,” said Kraig COO Jon Rice. “It is a pleasure to share each meaningful step forward and, over the next few quarters, we anticipate some thrilling changes for our business and our shareholders, as we begin bringing our recombinant spider silk technologies and capabilities to the markets.”
Kraig has used genetic engineering techniques to splice spider genes into silkworms, leading to silkworms that spin cocoons whose fibers have some of the strength properties of spiderweb fibers. Among the first products eyed for development by the company are super-strong textiles for military and other applications. More at https://www.kraiglabs.com/spider-silk-company/.
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