Nexia Biotechnologies: BioSteel spider-silk goats and Protexia
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A Canadian company announced goats that produced a spider-silk protein in their milk and promised bulletproof vests and surgical thread. Its sellable asset proved to be a nerve-agent antidote made the same way, and the company went bankrupt in 2009.
Nexia's stated goal (ABC News, January 2002) against the herd size reported for the same period. Counts as reported; not independently audited.
Status As of October 2026: Nexia went bankrupt in 2009; the sources reviewed record no commercial BioSteel product and no court case.
- Holders of Nexia shares on 18 January 2002 — The share price rose 39% on the announcement day.
- PharmAthene — Acquired the Protexia assets and herd in 2005. Research Money
- AFMNet — Bought Nexia's spider-silk assets in 2009 at an undisclosed price.
- University of Wyoming — Received most of the herd in 2007.
- PharmAthene — Closed its Canadian Protexia operations and recorded an impairment of about US$4.6 million after the Department of Defense did not extend the contract. PharmAthene / US SEC
- Nexia — Went bankrupt in 2009.
What happened
Nexia Biotechnologies was founded in 1993 by Jeffrey Turner and Paul Ballard, with roots at McGill University, according to Wikipedia's entry on BioSteel. The company licensed a patent from Randy Lewis of the University of Wyoming on spider-web protein genes and inserted those genes into goats so that they worked only in the mammary gland. The goats' milk contained the protein that spider silk is built from; fibres were then spun from the protein in the laboratory.
In May 2000 a Guardian report, reproduced in Hebrew by Hayadan on 22 May 2000, introduced two male goats, Webster and Peter. It quoted Turner as saying that one goat's milk over one month would be enough to make a vest, and wrote that the Pentagon wanted the material for missile defence and the US and Canadian armies for lightweight vests. In January 2002 Nexia and a US Army research unit based at Natick announced the first fibres drawn from protein made in mammalian cells. The Globe and Mail reported that Nexia's shares rose 39% on the day, to close at C$6.95 in Toronto.
ABC News reported in January 2002 that Turner expected sutures and biodegradable fishing line in 2003 or 2004, lightweight body armour three to five years after that, and a herd of "several thousand" goats. The Globe and Mail reported in the same month that the fibres were close to natural silk in elasticity and toughness but had only 20–30% of its tensile strength, and described the material in side panels as stronger than steel and Kevlar. According to ABC, fibre output was at the level of "a few strands".
Nexia's marketable asset was not spider silk but Protexia, a nerve-agent antidote (human butyrylcholinesterase) produced in goat milk. After failing to raise new financing, Nexia sold its Protexia assets and goat herd to PharmAthene in 2005; Research Money reported proceeds of $15.6 million and the resignation of founder Turner. In its annual report for 2010, PharmAthene said the US Department of Defense did not extend the Protexia contract beyond 31 December 2010. PharmAthene closed its Canadian Protexia operations and recorded an impairment of about US$4.6 million.
According to the Canadian Science and Technology Museums Corporation (Ingenium), Nexia did little more to develop BioSteel after 2005. Most of the herd went to the University of Wyoming in 2007, and in 2009 the federally funded research network AFMNet bought Nexia's spider-silk assets; the price was not disclosed. Nexia went bankrupt in 2009. Two goats, Sugar and Spice, were sold to the Canada Agriculture Museum in Ottawa, which removed them from display in 2013 after public pressure (AgFunderNews, 2019). Lewis's laboratory at Utah State University kept about 30 goats in 2012 and more than 20 in 2019.
- 1993Nexia Biotechnologies founded (Jeffrey Turner, Paul Ballard)
- 2000Company raises capital and lists; goats Webster and Peter presented to the press (22 May); one goat-month of milk said to be enough for a vest
- 2002First fibres announced with a US Army unit (January); shares up 39% on the day; sutures and fishing line promised for 2003–04
- 2005Protexia assets and goat herd sold to PharmAthene; founder Turner resigns
- 2006US Department of Defense Protexia contract reported at up to $213 million (unverified)
- 2007Most of the remaining spider-silk herd goes to the University of Wyoming
- 2009AFMNet buys Nexia's spider-silk assets; Nexia goes bankrupt
- 2010Defense Department does not extend the Protexia contract beyond 31 December; PharmAthene closes Canadian operations and records about US$4.6 million impairment
- 2013Two goats removed from display at the Canada Agriculture Museum after public pressure
- 2017Utah State University reports about 0.5 g of recovered protein per litre of goat milk
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Expected sutures and fishing line in 2003 or 2004, body armour three to five years later, and a herd of several thousand goats.
Fibres were close to natural silk in elasticity and toughness but had 20–30% of its tensile strength.
Fibre production was at the level of a few strands.
How it looked
Shown
- One goat's milk over one month would be enough to make a vest.Jeffrey Turner, Nexia, as reported by the Guardian and reproduced by Hayadan (22 May 2000) · Hayadan
- Sutures and biodegradable fishing line in 2003 or 2004; lightweight body armour three to five years later; a herd of several thousand goats.Jeffrey Turner, Nexia, as reported by ABC News (January 2002)
- The material described as stronger than steel and Kevlar.Globe and Mail side panels (January 2002)
Recorded
- Fibres reported at 20–30% of the tensile strength of natural silk (Globe and Mail, January 2002).
- Fibre output at the level of "a few strands" (ABC News, January 2002).
- Recovered protein of about 0.5 g per litre of goat milk at Utah State University in 2017; a 2022 systematic review in Frontiers described purification from goat milk as long, expensive and inefficient.
- Nexia sold its Protexia assets and herd in 2005 and went bankrupt in 2009; the Defense Department did not extend the Protexia contract after 31 December 2010.
- The sources reviewed record no sale of a commercial BioSteel product.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- nexia (January 2002): Jeffrey Turner said sutures and biodegradable fishing line would arrive in 2003 or 2004, body armour three to five years later, and that the herd would grow to several thousand goats.
- pharmathene (FY2010 (10-K)): Its annual report for 2010 said the Department of Defense did not extend the Protexia contract beyond 31 December 2010, citing concerns about the duration of protection and budget; the company closed its Canadian Protexia operations and recorded an impairment of about US$4.6 million. · PharmAthene / US SEC
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Figures
- Insufficient Ipo proceeds: From a museum page; no primary document.
- Insufficient Contract ceiling: Reported Department of Defense Protexia contract; secondary report only.
Accounts
- Disputed Did the fibres meet what was promised?
Record
- None on record The exact amount and currency of Nexia's 2000 share offering: a museum page gives $40 million, but no primary document is cited.
- None on record How much money the US Army put into the project: sources say only "joint research".
- Unclear Whether any BioSteel product (suture thread, fishing line) was ever sold commercially: no sale is on record, and the absence is not proven either.
- None on record Capital raised 1993–2000 is given as $67 million with no currency stated (Edward Willett, reproducing the National Post).
- None on record Herd size in 2002: one source gives about 50 goats, a museum page gives about 150 and a claim of up to 20 g of protein per litre; the museum's claim has no primary source.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the sale of the Protexia assets was announced at US$18 million, closing at US$11.2 million in cash plus shares.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in September 2006 the Department of Defense signed a Protexia contract worth "up to" US$213 million, of which US$34.7 million was firmly allocated to the first phase.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: grants to Lewis's laboratory from the Navy, Army, Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, about $1.15 million (2013), $1.9 million (2014), $1 million (2015) and $420,000 (2018).
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Science citation for the January 2002 fibres (Lazaris et al., volume 295) rests on secondary summaries.
- None on record The status of the Utah State goat herd after 2019.
- Not disclosed The sale price AFMNet paid for Nexia's spider-silk assets: not disclosed.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable on the record: the sources reviewed describe a commercial and research promise rather than an operation with documented damage to nature.
Who paid?
Investors who financed Nexia (capital of $67 million raised 1993–2000, currency not stated) and, after 2005, the PharmAthene operations that were closed in 2010 with an impairment of about US$4.6 million. The sources reviewed do not trace losses to any other party.
Sources
Company or project
- PharmAthene annual report (Form 10-K), fiscal year 2010PharmAthene / US SEC · 2011
Press and investigations
- BioSteel (fiber)Wikipedia · n.d.
- BioSteel goat pageMuseum of PostNatural History (Swiss page) · n.d.
- Goats Webster and Peter (Guardian/Haaretz report, reproduced in Hebrew)Hayadan · 2000-05-22
- Nexia sells assets, founder Jeffrey Turner resignsResearch Money · 2005-05-03
- PharmAthene wins $213 million DoD contract for ProtexiaFDAnews · 2006-09
- What happened to those GM spider goats with the silky milk?AgFunderNews · 2019-09-02
Connected cases
- Okinawa pays for US base PFAS treatment as Henoko cost rises to 930 billion yen Japan · 2014–2026
- US Department of Defense (Government) — here: Customer under the Protexia contract; there: Operates the bases; no cleanup payment is reported
- US Defense Department PFAS costs top USD 9.3 billion at 718 installations United States · 2022–2025
- US Department of Defense (Government) — here: Customer under the Protexia contract; there: Operates the 718 installations with PFAS contamination
- US Endangered Species Act rollbacks 2025–2026 (God Squad Gulf exemption, critical habitat rules) United States · 2025–2026
- US Department of Defense (Government) — here: Customer under the Protexia contract; there: Department whose Secretary requested the committee meeting