ANN ARBOR, Mich., -July 12, 2016- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) (“Company”), the leading developer of spider silk based fibers, today announced that it has received a contract valued at up to $1.0 million, if the option phase is awarded, for the development of high performance fibers for protective apparel applications. Under the fully funded base effort, valued at $99,962, the Company will deliver ballistic shoot packs constructed from its proprietary Dragon Silk™ material for performance testing. These shoot packs will be tested and evaluated for critical Soldier protective applications including ballistic impact. If awarded, the option phase will significantly expand this work with the US Army.
“Dragon Silk scores very highly in tensile strength and elasticity, which makes it one of the toughest fibers known to man and the ideal material for many applications,” stated Jon Rice, COO. “Providing material for this ballistic shoot pack initiative is an important next step for Kraig and spider silk. This contract reinforces the many significant potential applications for recombinant spider silk. Today is a great day for spider silk.”
“We’re proud to be working with the Department of Defense to assess the exciting potential of spider silk for military applications,” stated Kim K Thompson, CEO and founder of Kraig Biocraft Laboratories. “We are honored that the U.S. Army has selected us for this program. This effort will provide Kraig Labs with the opportunity to validate our longstanding belief that spider silk technology has had an incredible potential for protective and lifesaving materials and expand our ability to design and engineer innovative materials solutions.”
The base effort on this contract is scheduled to last ten months and is the Company’s first US Department of Defense award.
Previous Kraig breakthroughs include;
Creating, with the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wyoming (the Company’s university development collaborators), the world’s first recombinant spider silk fibers via a transgenic silkworm capable of spinning recombinant spider silk http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/16934-notre-dame-and-university-of-wyoming-scientists-genetically-engineer-silkworms-to-produce-artificial-spider-silk/.
The first published peer reviewed study in this space, by the highly respected PNAS, http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/01/02/1109420109.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories chosen as finalists for the inaugural ITMA Future Materials Awards in “Best innovation – Agrotextiles” and “Most innovative small company” categories. For further information please go to the following link: www.futurematerialsawards.com
Kraig is a biotech company with a proven track record of genetic engineering mastery. In a few shorts years the Company has gone from having the first peer reviewed recombinant spider silk technology to doing the unthinkable, exceed spider silk’s strength.
Bolt Technology, one of Kraig’s peers in this space, raised $40 million in its efforts to commercialize its version of spider silk technology, http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2015/06/04/the-daily-startup-bolt-threads-spins-up-40-million-to-scale-new-fabric/.
The Company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with a Vietnamese provincial government concerning its plans to establish advanced fiber production at sericulture facilities in Vietnam and is awaiting final approval. Kraig is on target to deliver the world’s 1st commercially feasible mass produced recombinant spider silk, produced using very environmentally friendly and sustainable methods. Their technology could soon become a global standard for super fibers.
The Advantages of Spider Silk
• Potential uses include ballistic protection.
• Unequalled combination of elasticity and tensile strength.
• Interest in spider silk has exploded as the technology approaches commercialization.
• Genetically engineered spider silk fibers are a powerful new technological approach to potentially opening up new application and markets.
• The market for technical textiles is in excess of $120 billion annually.
• Spider silk technology has the potential to revolutionize the multi-billion dollar silk industry.
• The market for traditional raw silk alone is in excess of $5 billion per year.
• Biodegradable and biocompatible.
• Spider silk production could greatly reduce many of the toxins and pollutants used in conventional petroleum based fiber and polymer production process.
High performance technical fibers are currently used in a wide variety of military, industrial, and consumer applications requiring superior strength, toughness and flexibility.
