Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Expands Material Performance Testing Procedures

The Company identifies and implements plan to improve its recombinant spider silk


ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB:KBLB) (“Company”), the leading developer of spider silk based fibers, today announced that the Company has recently implemented an expanded material performance testing procedure for its recombinant spider silk technology. This procedure is part of the Company’s efforts to continuously improve its operations and products. 

With this new expanded testing, the Company has already identified variances in material properties for its transgenic silkworm lines, which fall outside of the Company’s target ranges.  This variance is believed to be the result of genetic drift within the Company’s silkworm strains. 

In response to this new discovery, the Company has implemented an intensive selective breeding program to leverage the results of the newly established testing procedure.  The Company has also begun a cross breeding project to reinvigorate its transgenic lines with commercial silk genetics.  Combined, the expanded testing and selective breeding efforts are designed to allow the Company to more tightly control silk properties, while at the same time, creating the necessary genetic diversity within each line.  

The increased throughput and capacity for material testing, enabled by the Company’s new facilities and new testing protocol, is expected to identify even more opportunities for material and process improvements over the coming quarters.  The Company intends to use these discoveries to improve its operations and its products. 

“The expanded capacity for testing, which resulted from our decision to insource a major portion of our research operations, has already proven its significant value to the Company,” said Jon Rice, COO. “The results from performance testing, under the new testing protocol, have already been translated into an action plan.  The ability to quickly translate those results into an action plan is a great example of the value in consolidating our research and production into a single facility.  The efforts already underway to improve our testing and selective breeding should result in an improved process and more uniform final product.  Our plan is to improve quality back to our target range before spooling up for mass production.  This could cause a delay in commercialization if the other parts of our commercialization plan fall into place earlier. Uniform materials, improved quality control, and minimizing the performance variance will play an important part in our work to commercialize spider silk.  The information gained from this program will continue to inform our drive for continuous improvement.”

To view the most recent edition of Kraig’s Spider Sense quarterly newsletter and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.KraigLabs.com/newsletter.

About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (w), a fully 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