The new staff has introduced new egg treatment/hatching protocol systems that could reduce the rearing cycle by up to 40% during scale-up. Once proven, this approach may allow the Company to accelerate the delivery of its four-strain “double hybrid” production system to its 3rd party contract manufacturer, cutting several months from its original timeline.

The new staff also identified and implemented alternative methods for screening the strength and health of our diverse silkworm colony. That work has led to addressing a previously unknown bottleneck in both laboratory and commercial production. We anticipate that over the next 60 days, this will lead to significantly increased throughput in our U.S. facility. Strengthening our team with these two sericulturists has dramatically enhanced the processes and systems for commercializing our spider silk technologies. We anticipate they will continue to add substantial value to our enterprise over the coming months.