Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. has started to work on silk yarns and recombinant silk production at the newly opened facility in Vietnam. Safety protocols and restrictions enacted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam led to closures and slowdowns of many businesses throughout the country, most notably in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. The majority of these restrictions did not directly impact the Company’s subsidiary, so Prodigy Textiles, located in central Vietnam, did not stop the production of its specialized silkworms. However, those shutdowns affected Prodigy’s employees and the Company, including delayed laboratory equipment deliveries, which delayed operational growth, and slowdowns at yarn spinners and weavers, which limited the Company’s ability to convert its raw silk into finished fabrics and garments.
Mr. Jon Rice, COO Kraig Labs, said, “We are pleased to see conditions in Vietnam improving for its people and its economy. In the coming weeks, we expect to receive and install several pieces of lab equipment delayed due to lockdowns. This quality assurance equipment will play a key role in our continued production expansion. Most critically, with this re-opening, we can once again work with the textile mills to weave our silk into the finished fabrics for the first garments for SpydaSilk and to supply materials to the numerous other brands eager to incorporate spider silk into their products.”
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. is an innovative and aggressive biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing spider silk. Kraig Labs has successfully developed and produced next-generation polymers and protein-based fibers based on proprietary genetic engineering technology, including recombinant spider silk.
Kraig’s spider silk technology builds upon the unique advantages of the domesticated silkworm for this application. The silkworm is ideally suited to produce genetically engineered spider silk because it is already an efficient commercial and industrial producer of silk. Forty percent (40%) of the caterpillars’ weight is devoted to the silk glands. The silk glands produce large volumes of protein, called fibroin, which are then spun into a composite protein thread (silk).
