Why is non-lethal extraction important re: KLH?
The importance is primarily economic: Non-lethal extractions allow customers to reserve specific limpets for multiple KLH lots which provides traceability back to individual source animals, a factor of considerable importance to the customer and FDA during drug development. It also allows Stellar to contract with customers to provide long-term supplies from dedicated colonies, thereby reducing the customers supply risk and generating revenues for Stellar during the customers drug development phase. Non-lethal extraction also greatly extends the supply potential from the natural resource (while Stellar is increasing its aquaculture capacity) by allowing captured animals to be held in captivity for years while KLH is periodically extracted; There may be as few as 20,000 to 120,000 Keyhole commercially available from the wild. It is a non-renewable, rapidly depleting natural resource that demand could overrun in as little as 4-8 years, without a means to extend the supply and eventually r
