ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) (“the Company” or “Kraig Labs”), the leading developer of spider silk-based fibers, announces today the opening of a new spider silk production factory located in Vietnam. The nearly 10-acre campus was custom built as a production silkworm rearing and breeding facility. The Company identified this property as the ideal location for its recombinant spider silk product during a site survey trip in 2017 and has been working for several years to secure the leasing rights. Kraig Labs can now report that it has acquired the leasing rights on this facility after several rounds of negotiations with the facility owner.
This new campus includes multiple buildings with dedicated production and research laboratory spaces and more than 7 acres of fertile fields for cultivating the mulberry feedstocks to support production operations.
Located in the temperate lowlands, this new facility receives ample water for irrigating fields and is shielded from the extreme temperature fluctuations that impacted the Company’s first factory. This facility is located in the heart of the agricultural districts, near the Company’s existing mulberry fields that were planted in partnership with local farming co-operatives. Proximity to this key feedstock significantly reduces the cost and logistics of shipping in additional mulberry feed.
The Company’s Vietnamese subsidiary, Prodigy Textiles, has already completed transitioning production operations to the new facility. The first batch of recombinant spider silk cocoons has already been completed at this new headquarters for Prodigy Textiles. Rearing operations at this new facility are scheduled to continue expanding as we bring more rearing suites online in order to supply Spydasilk Enterprises.
The continuing rise of COVID-19 related measures has affected some aspects of the Company’s operations. Kraig Labs has not been able to procure the laboratory equipment planned to improve its onsite quality control screening operations. However, Prodigy’s production operations have remained mostly unaffected. The Company has now wholly transitioned all of its production to this new complex and has remained in continuous operation. Over the coming weeks, it will further expand its rearing operations to take advantage of the newly increased access to fresh mulberry.
“I am very excited to finally be able to publicly announce that we have secured the lease on this tailor-built silk production factory. I first toured this property on one of our site surveys many years ago, and Kraig Labs has been trying to acquire the lease rights to this facility for several years,” said COO Jon Rice. “The property puts us in the heart of agriculture districts and, for the first time, gives us onsite production of mulberry. Our team at Prodigy did an incredible job of seamlessly transitioning production to this new factory. The personal sacrifices and commitments made by our key Prodigy Textiles staff to make this move possible are known to very few but will be felt by all of the Kraig Lab’s family of shareholders.”
To view the most recent news from Kraig Labs and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to: www.KraigLabs.com/news
About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (www.KraigLabs.com), a reporting biotechnology company is the leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fiber technologies.
The Company has achieved a series of scientific breakthroughs in the area of spider silk technology with implications for the global textile industry.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information
Statements in this press release about the Company’s future and expectations other than historical facts are “forward-looking statements.” These statements are made on the basis of management’s current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “foresees,” “estimated,” “hopes,” “if,” “develops,” “researching,” “research,” “pilot,” “potential,” “could” or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward looking statements include descriptions of the Company’s business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security.
Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC
(720) 288-8495
ir@KraigLabs.com