STONY BROOK, N.Y., November 26, 2019 – Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN; the “Company” or “Applied DNA”) announced today that LineaRx, Inc., the Company’s majority-owned subsidiary focused on next-generation biotherapeutics and diagnostics, has signed a definitive agreement with Tyme Technologies, Inc. to supply the Company’s Vita-Assay™ invasive Circulating Tumor Cell (iCTC) capture assay and associated services for use in the pivotal stage of the TYME-88-PANC clinical trial for patients with third-line pancreatic cancer (the “Agreement”).
Under the terms of the Agreement, TYME has the option to purchase from the Company up to 3,000 Vita-Assay kits and associated iCTC analytical and storage services over the course of treatment of up to 250 patients. The potential value of the Agreement is the largest contract to-date for LineaRx, and the largest in the development history of the iCTC assay.
The Company and TYME have previously announced a study demonstrating correlation between the number of iCTCs in a patient’s blood and their disease status, as observed in TYME’s SM-88 Phase II trial for recurrent prostate cancer. The study demonstrated that SM-88 had very encouraging efficacy and safety outcomes for prostate cancer patients where sparing testosterone was important. The study also showed that reduction of CTCs, an important prognostic indicator, may prove to be a better surrogate for patient outcomes than PSA, particularly for SM-88 and other non-hormonal agents.
“We continue to commercialize our Vita-Assay functional iCTC capture assay and iCTC identification technologies, which we recently acquired in August of this year,” said Dr. James Hayward, President, Chairman and CEO of Applied DNA. “We are excited to work with TYME to support their important pivotal stage trial for pancreatic cancer and, together with TYME, to potentially compile additional evidence of iCTC-count correlation with cancer disease status and therapeutic efficacy.”
Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore, Chief Medical Officer of TYME, stated: “We are impressed by the distinguishing character of the iCTC assay developed by LineaRx; they have a functional assay which directly mimics the behavior of metastatic cells in the body, by capturing iCTCs after they invade a cellular adhesion matrix directly from fresh blood. These live metastatic cells can be counted and characterized by the unique biomarkers from LineaRx. iCTCs can be cultured and analyzed by the latest genomic methods.”
Dr. Hayward concluded: “Our contract with TYME, and other recent collaborations not yet announced, will, we believe, help advance our understanding of the metastatic process and the underlying genomic changes that accompany late-stage cancers. We believe that an oral cancer treatment like SM-88 may be used as a monotherapy or in combination therapy across multiple cancers and potentially provide an opportunity to also intervene with genetic immunotherapeutic approaches that may one day be delivered via linear DNA.”
About LineaRx
LineaRx seeks to commercialize the biotherapeutic value of Applied DNA’s deep expertise and experience in the design, manufacture and chemical modification of DNA by large scale polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”). Linear DNA is a form of DNA distinct from the circular form of DNA most commonly produced in plasmids and grown in bacteria. Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA found in bacteria and are associated with the genes for antibiotic resistance which are often exchanged between bacteria and consequentially, are seen by many to embody a serious threat to global health. In addition, many nucleic acid-based therapies also rely on viral vectors for efficient transfection and expression of plasmid DNA. These viral vectors carry additional nontrivial risks and are extremely time consuming and expensive to manufacture. Go to www.adnas.com for more information on LineaRx and to learn more about how Applied DNA makes life real and safe. LineaRx is a majority-owned Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: APDN) company.
About Applied DNA Sciences
Applied DNA is a provider of molecular technologies that enable supply chain security, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technology, product genotyping, and pre-clinical nucleic acid-based therapeutic drug candidates.
Applied DNA makes life real and safe by providing innovative, molecular-based technology solutions and services that can help protect products, brands, entire supply chains, and intellectual property of companies, governments and consumers from theft, counterfeiting, fraud and diversion.
Visit adnas.com for more information. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Join our mailing list.
Common stock listed on NASDAQ under the symbol APDN.
Forward-Looking Statements
The statements made by Applied DNA in this presentation may be “forward-looking” in nature within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe Applied DNA’s future plans, projections, strategies and expectations, and are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Applied DNA. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to substantial doubt relating to Applied DNA’s ability to continue as a going concern, the possibility of failure to make timely payment on its outstanding secured convertible notes and resulting enforcement by noteholders of remedies on collateral which includes substantially all of Applied DNA’s assets, its history of net losses, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance, its ability to penetrate key markets, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including whether any of Applied DNA’s or its partners product candidates will advance further in the preclinical research or clinical trial process, including receiving clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies to conduct clinical trials and whether and when, if at all, they will receive final approval from the U.S. FDA or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies, and various other factors detailed from time to time in Applied DNA’s SEC reports and filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on December 18, 2018, as amended, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed on February 7, 2019, May 9, 2019 and August 13, 2019, and other reports we file with the SEC, which are available at www.sec.gov. Applied DNA undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, unless otherwise required by law.
PROGRAM CONTACT
Brian Viscount
631-240-8877, brian.viscount@adnas.com
