LineaRx Ships DNA to Support Therapy Development for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Interest in large-scale Linear DNA for nucleic acid-based therapies continues to rise
STONY BROOK, NY. June 26, 2019 – LineaRx, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN), announced today that it has shipped multiple customized linear DNA amplicons to Evotec SE, a well-known therapeutic development company, to support their research efforts related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. DNA amplicons are segments of DNA that can serve as templates to generate the RNA or more DNA necessary for nucleic acid-based therapies.“LineaRx collaborated closely with the customer on the design, production and post processing of their unique amplicon specifications,” stated Dr. James Hayward, president and CEO of LineaRx. “Evotec SE, like a growing number of other cutting-edge biotech companies, sees value in evaluating linear DNA as a foundation for their research and recognizes the strengths of LineaRx in the design and large-scale production of linear DNA using LineaRx’s proprietary platform for DNA production by polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”). The amplicons will be evaluated by Evotec SE over the next few months.”
Our shipment to Evotec SE, in support of neurodegenerative disease therapy research, is representative of a growing number of therapy developers coming to LineaRx and placing research quantity orders to evaluate the benefits of linear DNA in their therapeutic development pipeline. Many of the disease targets would have been considered unapproachable by gene therapies only a short time ago.
“Our expertise in PCR, as well as our pathway to cGMP large scale production, makes LineaRx a valuable partner to those companies pursuing a plasmid-free path,” indicated Brian Viscount, Director of LineaRx. “We continue to see growing demand for linear DNA, in both double-stranded and single-stranded formats, across a wide variety of nucleic acid-based therapies. We have the research bandwidth and production capacity to respond to the increasing demand we are seeing.”
About LineaRx
LineaRx seeks to commercialize the biotherapeutic value of Applied DNA Sciences’ 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.
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, and warrants are listed under the symbol APDNW.
Forward-Looking Statements
The statements made by Applied DNA in this press release may be “forward-looking” in nature within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation 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 its history of net losses, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance , the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including whether any of Applied DNA’s 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, the uncertainly relating to its ability to maintain its NASDAQ listing 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 and our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed on February 7, 2019 and May 9, 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 to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, unless otherwise required by law.
investor contact: Sanjay M. Hurry, LHA Investor Relations, 212-838-3777, shurry@lhai.com
program contact: Brian Viscount, 631-240-8877, brian.viscount@adnas.com
web: www.adnas.com
twitter: @APDN, @LineaRxDNA
