There are different degrees of sericin removal. For external applications (like a bandage), clearing most of the sericin off will be fine. For short-term internal use (sutures, surgical sponges), clearing nearly all sericin off will be fine. For long-term implants (heart valves), even a little bit of sericin might cause problems.
Different kinds of testing or procedures might be needed for these different applications. I don’t know.
The easiest applications for DS or MS are external. I knew a child born with Epidermolysis bullosa. He had to have bandages on his skin and it hurt terribly to have to peel them off every day and replace them. A spider silk bandage could have reduced the frequency of changes to perhaps every 4 or 5 days. That would have been a blessing for this poor kid. I’m guessing that bandage makers are the first to ask for DS or MS.
Only about a year ago was KBLB able to ship fibers to a few more medical companies. I’m guessing this might have included a few who specialize in internal applications. Each company will do their own testing on the fibers. The test for calcification is important in some applications, but not others, for example.
When research papers appear, they will include methods of clearing sericin and testing for clearance. How many research articles have mentioned KBLB? Pretty sure none of them. That means research is just getting started. But if a company is going to spend five million bucks to develop a new heart valve, they probably want to lock KBLB in as a sole supplier. That will be done thru a joint venture. No medical company wants to be in a situation where KBLB is shipping material to seven or eight of their competitors, all of whom are working to develop heart valves. That is the reason for a joint venture.
