Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, (KBLB) Inc. is a PCAOB audited OTCQB listed biotechnology focused on the development and commercialization of new textiles and high performance fibers including spider silks. As a reporting company, our annual and quarterly financial reports are filed with the SEC and can be found on EDGAR, or on this website. Our investments in genetic research are targeted for product development and innovative near-term solutions to meet the practical problems of our world.
Kraig Biocraft Labs has crafted a once-in-a-lifetime technology, raising the custom recombinant spider silk fibers and polymers performance bar. This new technology could displace current industry technologies and standards for advanced technical textiles and various other protective materials.
Kraig Labs was born out of the necessity to produce improved fibers and polymers. We are dedicated to producing the best technologies for our investors and end-users. Our target markets include military, police and DHS related applications; athletic wear, other industrial and consumer applications, clothing and fashion wear; and significant existing silk product markets.
Mother Nature played a hand in making spider silk the super fiber that it is. At Kraig Biocraft Laboratories we plan on improving products, and then lives, by producing it in commercial quantities.
In addition to spider silk’s potential anti-ballistic qualities, spider silk’s amazing properties could make it the basis of many market disrupting technologies in industrial, military …
Collaborations with well-respected institutions, such as the University of Notre Dame, has accelerated and enabled a number of exciting breakthroughs in the laboratory. We are …
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has assembled a team of leading biotechnology experts, and others with experience spanning critical areas of science and business. The Company has …
Company Founder and Chief Executive Officer: Kim K. Thompson Mr. Thompson received his B.A. in Applied Economics from James Madison College at Michigan State University. He …
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories is an innovative biotechnology company that is applying cutting edge technology to the creation and development of high-performance fibers. A primary focus …
July 12, 2016 – Kraig Labs receives 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.
The government contract and the accompanying production capacity increase caught the attention of international media and were covered by numerous leading media outlets.
December 19, 2016 – Kraig Labs completed the first batch of Dragon Silk™ cocoon production for its military contract. The fibers will soon be headed to a reeling facility to be prepared for delivery to Warwick Mills.
The Company will contract Warwick Mills to produce ballistic shoot packs, for delivery to the US Army, based on the Company’s Dragon Silk technology. The Company expected to make final delivery to the US Army in the second quarter of 2017.
March 27, 2017 – Kraig Labs was awarded an Investment Certificate for the production of high technology silk in Vietnam’s Quang Nam province, during the March 26, 2017 Quang Nam Investment Conference, which was attended by Vietnam’s Prime Minister and numerous high level central government officials, including the ministers of all relevant governmental departments, as well as high level officials from Quang Nam province, including the Chairman and key provincial officials. Representing Kraig Labs at the meeting were the Company’s CEO and Founder, Kim Thompson, and COO, Jon Rice.
May 1, 2018 – As the result of five years of working with the Vietnamese government, at the national and provincial levels, Kraig Labs was issued its long awaited Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC), which is required to begin its operations in Vietnam.
“Our work to obtain these approvals has been driven by our goal of producing recombinant spider silk on a large scale, which can only be achieved by harnessing the opportunities presented by existing large scale silk production infrastructure,” stated Kim Thompson, CEO, in reference to the Company’s advanced silk production platform, which was designed specifically to fit within and utilize existing silk industry infrastructure.
April 17, 2019 – Polartec, the premium provider of innovative and sustainable textile solutions, and Kraig Biocraft Laboratories (Kraig) (OTC:KBLB), the biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of spider silk, announce plans to bring to market the first fabrics made from spider silk. Initially developed for specialized military applications, these first-of-their-kind materials made from recombinant spider silk will eventually service the global market for high performance textiles and apparel.
Kim Thompson Births Initial Silkworm Recombinant Spider Silk Platform Concept
Begins Scientific Collaboration with Dr. Malcolm Fraser
Announces the Creation of Transgenic Silkworms Which Spin Recombinant Spider Silk
-Press Conference Held at Notre Dame
ZFN (Zink Finger Nuclease) Licensing Agreement With Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL)
The Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Publishes Peer-Reviewed Spider Silk & Transgenic Silkworm Breakthroughs, the First Peer-Reviewed Scientific Publication Describing the Creation of Transgenic Silkworms
MonsterSilk™ earns recognition as Textile World’s “Tecnnilcal Textile of the Month” Kraig opens new private laboratory at Innovation Park, a state-of-the-art facility near Notre Dame.
Internationale Textilmaschinen Ausstellung’s (“ITMA”) Future Materials Awards 2014 in “Most innovative small company” and “Best innovation – Agrotextiles” Classifications
Meetings with high ranking Vietnamese officials, including, most notably, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, were featured on Vietnam Television (VTV) National News
Jon Rice joins Kraig from Ultra Electronics (AMI) where he lead all new product development and commercialization of advanced technologies, for the US and global defense markets.
Kraig Labs reviewed more than 1200 resumes from candidates coming out of the nation’s top MBA schools. Jon was chosen because of his stellar track record, his experience in product development and commercialization, and his keen intellect and business drive.
Laboratory breakthrough results in Kraig Labs’ strongest and most flexible recombinant spider silk technology.
A small number of Dragon SilkTM samples have demonstrated tensile strength as high as 1.79 gigapascals, exceeding widely reported spider silk strength (by as much as 37%, depending on source literature). Several samples of Dragon SilkTM also demonstrated elasticity above 38%, exceeding native dragline spider silk. The Company is now working to standardize the performance level across the entire Dragon SilkTM genetic line.
– Future Materials Magazine discussed Kraig’s technology and business model developments in cover story titled “Web of Knowledge, Realizing Commercial Possibilities for Spider Silk”. The “Strong as Silk” feature begins on page 17 of the following link; http://www.textilemagazines.com/Future_Materials/Issue_5_2015/0958140815/index.html.
Kraig Labs opens the Company’s first overseas office, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which Kraif Labs sees as an essential step in its efforts to obtain final approval from Vietnamese authorities for its planned hybrid silkworm research and pilot production operations.
– Kraig Labs begins to buildout its new Indiana production facility, which is expected to increase the Company’s US production capacity by nearly twenty times and will be used to fulfill the recently awarded US Government contract and to potentially supply additional collaborative textile developers.
Kraig Labs successfully launches production at its new Indiana production facility with the hatching of more than 40,000 silkworms; on schedule to produce all of the recombinant spider silk necessary to fulfill its US Government contract on time and on budget.
Kraig Labs was featured in the broadcast television show “Nature Knows Best”, a nationally syndicated STEM series produced by Steve Rotfeld Productions and airs on Fox, on November 19th, which explores how scientists and engineers mimic nature to create some of the world’s most amazing materials.
Kraig Labs planted the first 2,000 mulberry trees at its new Texas location. This facility and these trees will be used to supply the Company’s US recombinant spider silk operations with fresh mulberry leaves.
Kraig Labs opens new research and production headquarters in Michigan. This facility unites the Company’s ongoing recombinant spider silk production operations with its accelerating research into the creation of ever more powerful spider silk protein technologies.
Kraig Labs’ R&D team achieves a major breakthrough in the construction of DNA encoding for spider silk proteins, which the Company believes should be able to reduce the customization timeframe, for new spider silk technologies, by several months.
Kraig Labs completed more than 2,500 microinjections using the recently announced new spider silk DNA synthesis methodology. This new method allows for faster creation of larger and more complex spider silk proteins. Larger and more complex proteins are believed to produce improved silk strength, toughness, and elasticity, which will allow the Company to target an expanded set of end market applications.
To support this expanded research and development capability, the Company added two laboratory staff for increased testing throughput.
Kraig Labs produces its first roll of pure Dragon Silk fabric, marking the first time that the Company’s proprietary recombinant spider silk fibers were used to create a 100% pure woven silk fabric.
Kraig Labs’ subsidiary, Prodigy Textiles, signed three agreements with local 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.
Kraig Labs successfully delivered the first two shipments of its highly specialized silkworms to Vietnam. This monumental breakthrough, for large scale Spider Silk commercialization, is the culmination of more than 5 years of work, and challenging negotiation, with the government of Vietnam.
Kraig Labs hosted a French documentary film crew and provided them with access to the process of creating its incredible spider silk technologies, which is to be featured in a documentary focused on combating terrorism.
Kraig Labs submits five new provisional patent applications, for technologies related to its recombinant spider silk technologies. These applications cover a broad range of technologies in the creation, screening, and production of new recombinant proteins. These new applications expand beyond the Company’s publicly disclosed silkworm and silk technologies, to include advanced construction systems, methods, and non-native proteins.
Kraig Labs creates the next generation of recombinant spider silk using the Company’s new design, gene editing, and incorporation approaches. Kraig Labs designed this approach to customize mechanical properties for specific commercial markets and has demonstrated the ability to more quickly, accurately, and efficiently, generate new transgenics.
Kraig Labs has been awarded an increased investment license for expansion of its recombinant spider silk production at Prodigy Textiles, its Vietnamese subsidiary. Under the new license, the Vietnamese government increased the Company’s potential investment cap, to as high as $50 million USD. This significantly increased investment limit will now allow the Company to prepare for the second phase expansion, planned for a 123 acre site located near Prodigy Textiles’ existing facility, and is part of the Company’s systematic and structured plan to expand capacity.
Kraig Labs adds first biological engineer to R&D team bringing extensive spider silk experience. She is working directly with Kraig’s Chief Scientist, already developing new and stronger transgenics and providing valuable input shaping the direction the Company’s research is headed.
Prodigy Textiles’ operations team completes rearing the Company’s first batch of production silkworms. The Company’s specialized spider silk silkworms were hatched over a 7 day period starting on October 8th, while Jon Rice, the Company’s COO, was in Vietnam. The silkworms began spinning cocoons on October 27th and finished on November 2nd.
Prodigy Textiles completes hatching the second generation of silkworms, as it continues to expand production at its factory in Quang Nam province. This second generation is several hundred times larger than the first generation. The resulting cocoons from this production cycle will be used to fulfill the first commercial shipments from this new factory.
Prodigy Textiles completes hatching the second generation of silkworms, as it continues to expand production at its factory in Quang Nam province. This second generation is several hundred times larger than the first generation. The resulting cocoons from this production cycle will be used to fulfill the first commercial shipments from this new factory.
Kraig Labs completed the second recombinant spider silk production cycle, at its Vietnamese production factory and expects to begin shipping the specialized silk cocoons the following week. These cocoons will be turned into the first recombinant spider silk yarn from this new facility and, once complete, will be sent to the US, for testing and delivery to customers.
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Technology | Genetically Modified Silkworm | Genetically Modified Yeast Fermentation | Genetically Modified Yeast Fermentation | Genetically Modified Yeast Fermentation |
Material Performance | Kraig Labs has published fiber strength and elasticity | Bolt Threads has not published performance data | Spiber has not published performance data | AMSilk has not published performance data |
Production Cost | PUBLISHED: Less than $300 per kilogram. Economical silk producrion using silkworms have existed for thousands of years | ESTIMATED: $37,500 per kilogram. Bolt Thread has not published cost data. Best current estimates for production based on industry reported data (1,000L batches) is between $700,000 to $750,000 per batch. At a high production yields of 20 grams per liter - this works out to be $30,000 to $37,500 per kilogram. This material then requires additional expensive process stages to purify and artificially spin fibers. No cost data exists for these additional stepss | ESTIMAGED: $37,500+ per Kilogram. Spiber reported that production costs are higher than $1,000 the selling price for a North Face Moon Parka (3). Our best current estimates for production based on industry reported data (1,000L batches) is between $700,000 to $750,000 per batch. At a high production yield of 20 grams per liter this works out to be $35,000 to $37,500 per kilogram. Once produced, this material requires additional process stages to purify and artificually spin fibers. No published cost data exists for these additional steps. | PUBLISHED: $137,500 per kilogram. AMSilk production cost was 100,00 € ($137,500) per kilogram in 2011 (2). Our best current estimates for production based on industry reported data (1,000L batches) is between $700,000 to $750,000 per batch. At a high production yield of 20 grams per liter this works out to be $35,000 to $37,500 per kilogram. Once produced, this material requires additional process stages to purify and artificually spin fibers. No published cost data exists for these additional steps. |
Production Safety | Silkworms have been raised safely for more than 3,000 years | + Fermentation produces flammable chemicals such as ethanol which can force smaller production batch sizes and the requirement for explosive blast shields. + Chemicals such as DMSO used in wet-spinning create potential health risks for workers | + Fermentation produces flammable chemicals such as ethanol which can force smaller production batch sizes and the requirement for explosive blast shields. + Chemicals such as DMSO used in wet-spinning create potential health risks for workers | + Fermentation produces flammable chemicals such as ethanol which can force smaller production batch sizes and the requirement for explosive blast shields. + Chemicals such as DMSO used in wet-spinning create potential health risks for workers |
Environmental Impact | + Silkworms eat leaves of Mulberry trees, a fast growing, carbon dioxied sequestering, renewable resource. + Silkworm Silk captures atmospheric carbon dioxide(1) | + Fermentation generates high amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which is arguably the leading cause of global warming. +The chemicals used to wet-spin silk fibers often contain volatile chemicals such as DMSO creating additional environmental concerns | + Fermentation generates high amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which is arguably the leading cause of global warming. +The chemicals used to wet-spin silk fibers often contain volatile chemicals such as DMSO creating additional environmental concerns | + Fermentation generates high amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which is arguably the leading cause of global warming. +The chemicals used to wet-spin silk fibers often contain volatile chemicals such as DMSO creating additional environmental concerns |
Peer Reviewed Publication | Yes, national Academy of Science | No | No | No |
Total Cash Investment | ~$5M | ~$90M | ~$135M | Not Reported |
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