Cure bet: If vaccine candidates prepared by Applied DNA’s LinearDNA manufacturing system perform as well as plasmid-based candidates prepared by Italian biopharma Takis Biopharma, the cross-Atlantic collaboration may be on to something.
By GREGORY ZELLER //
With preliminary lab tests looking good, an innovative Long Island biotech is rushing a quintet of potential COVID-19 vaccines overseas.
Stony Brook-based Applied DNA Sciences announced Wednesday that it has completed “design qualifications” and shipped five COVID-19 vaccine candidates to Italian biopharma Takis Biotech, a frequent collaborator working closely with Applied DNA to counter the coronavirus.
The vaccine candidates were produced using the Stony Brook biotech’s proprietary, polymerase chain reaction-based LinearDNA manufacturing system, which factored heavily in the two companies’ previous forays into cancer research.
Now, LineaRX – Applied DNA’s linear DNA-focused 2018 spinoff – is knee-deep in the global pandemic, churning out five vaccine candidates scheduled for immediate preclinical animal testing in Italy.
