Spider silk has long been sought after for its combination of robust fiber properties and biocompatibility. Until recently, mechanisms did not exist to explore recombinant spider silks (rSSp) in formats other than fibers. A recent development to solubilize rSSp in water alone has led to the discovery that these proteins are also capable of performing as adhesives. To date silicone, Teflon, polyurethane, stainless steel and wood have been adhered with rSSp. The testing results were impressive. Not only did rSSp adhere the substrates together, it did so with remarkable strength. In the case of wood, the wood would often fail before the adhered joint. Recombinant spider silk adhesive outperformed both Elmer's wood glue and Gorilla glue. When silicone is coated with rSSp, taking advantage of its adhesive quality, the coating did not separate from the silicone when severely bent. With these characteristics, there are a number of potential product fields that rSSp as an adhesive could satisfy. This I-Corps team hypothesizes that the biomedical market will be the best fit for the proposed technology with potential applications as surgical glue, coatings and others. The team also potentially views certain industrial applications where an all-natural green adhesive could be favorably received.
The team's goal of participating in the I-Corps program is to receive and implement the training necessary to interview as many potential end users, key partners, as well as points along the value chain, to understand critical pain points in the adhesives market. The end result of these discussions will be a definition of our minimal viable product based upon our business model canvas. Through this analysis, the decision will made to proceed with commercialization or to go back to the laboratory and refine the product. The scope of the proposal is to validate commercialization hypotheses by conducting interviews as described above, over the course of the I-Corps cohort. The Araknitek team will be conducting over 100 customer interviews over the 7 week period. The team has already identified a number of adhesive product companies in the Atlanta area and is currently actively soliciting interviews to be conducted on the first day of the program. Araknitek?s participation in this I-Corps cohort will culminate in a clear understanding of what is necessary to make an economic impact with the proposed spider silk technology.
