Applied DNA Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent Protecting its CertainT® Platform in Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers and Materials

Newly-Issued Patent Expands the Company’s Patent Estate in Textile Supply Chain Solutions

STONY BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (“Applied DNA” or the "Company"), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing for product authenticity, traceability solutions, nucleic acid-based biotherapeutic development and liquid biopsies, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted it United States patent no. 10,519,605 entitled “Methods of Marking Cellulosic Products.” The newly-issued patent covers methods of tagging man-made cellulosic (MMC) fibers or materials with a nucleic acid (DNA) tag during production and later authenticating the nucleic acid-tagged MMC fibers and/or materials via PCR-based detection techniques to confirm provenance and/or authenticity.

Global MMC production volume more than doubled from 3 million (in 1990) to 6.7 million metric tons in 2018¹, and is expected to continue to grow at an annual rate of 9% through 2024². MMCs include viscose, Rayon, acetate, lyocell, Tencel^®, modal and cupro materials.

Most MMCs are primarily derived from wood. Heightened awareness related to the sourcing of wood raw materials from endangered or ancient forests, the social and environmental concerns relating to the chemicals used in production, as well as the amount of energy and water used to manufacture MMCs, has led to greater oversight of the MMC industry and requires proof that these materials come from controlled and sustainable sources that can be verified by scientific evidence.

“The use of MMC fibers and materials is moving the textile industry towards greater sustainability, but has also yielded social and environmental concerns related to deforestation and biodiversity. In response, brands and retailers, such as H&M Group that has articulated a goal to only use MMC fibers from certified, responsibly-managed sources in its products by 2025³, are actively strengthening their sourcing policies to address these concerns. Central to their initiatives is traceability of their MMC supply chains to feedstock levels,” said MeiLin Wan, Vice President of Textile Sales at Applied DNA. “With these new patents, together with our linear DNA-based tagging platform, we can offer MMC fiber producers and manufacturers the unparalleled ability to ensure that their brands are real and safe.”

“Transparency related to the source, origin and authenticity of MMCs is the key to unlock valuable claims related to sustainable and ethical sourcing – and this is important for the supply chain to know that their product and brand is secure from source to shelf,” said Wayne Buchen, Vice President of Strategic Sales at Applied DNA. “The Company continues to collaborate with its global network of MMC fiber producers and manufacturers to assure that their brands are verified and traceable. With increased scrutiny of cellulosic fibers originating from certain geographic locations, we plan to provide solutions to enable our partners to digitally verify their products through our CertainT portal, and also help our brand partners to authenticate their products through additional solutions that we offer for protecting hang tags, thread and packaging. We are very excited to now offer our patented technology to all stakeholders in the cellulosic fiber and materials value chain.”

“The Company is at the forefront of large-scale PCR-based DNA manufacture innovation as shown by its over 130 pending patent applications and issued patents,” said Dr. James A. Hayward, chairman, president and CEO of Applied DNA. “With the issuance of this patent, we continue to expand the value of our proprietary CertainT platform in textiles, which will be a key focus for fiscal 2020.”

¹ Textiles Exchange, Preferred Fiber & Materials, Market Report 2019
² https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/2019-24-cellulose-fiber-market-to-register-usd-39-bn-revenue-2019-07-22
³ https://hmgroup.com/sustainability/Planet/materials/Man-madeCellulosicFibres.html

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.

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Common stock listed on NASDAQ under the symbol APDN.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements made by Applied DNA in this press release 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 the possibility of a 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, our ability to successfully enter into commercial contracts for the implementation of our CertainT^® platform, 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 12, 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.