DECEMBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 23
WHOLLY MOLI
RACING APPLIED DNA SCIENCES
FOR VACCINE
Pharmaceutical companies such as
Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson have
made significant progress in creating
Covid-19 vaccines. While these
names are the most well known,
they are far from the only ones
developing and testing the vaccine
that people are waiting for.
In fact, Applied DNA Sciences,
Inc., based in Stony Brook, is conducting
trials with five of its own
Covid-19 vaccine contenders. The
company’s subsidiary, LineaRx,
Inc., announced a partnership with
Takis Biotech, a Rome-based biotech
agency, in February and has made
some promising strides in the
months since.
Dr. James Hayward, president and
CEO of Applied DNA, said that the
companies’ method involves linear
DNA production “that we believe
will yield a safe and effective vaccine
with fewer risks than other
DNA production platforms.”
All five of the companies’
vaccines have resulted in
Covid-19 antibody production
in mice, Hayward
reported in July.
The next step, which
LineaRx and Takis
are tackling now, is
to test the vaccine
on larger animals.
In mid-September,
the companies began
working with
Engineered Veterinary
Vectored
Immunotherapy
and Vaccines Evvivax),
an entity
of Takis, to test
the vaccine on cats. This
study will take about
three more months.
“Because animals and people
can both be affected
by this zoonotic virus,
and with much of the
world’s Covid-19 efforts
centered on
humans with very
little known about
its effects on our
closest companions
with whom we
share our homes,
we believe it prudent
to pursue
this avenue for
the therapeutic
benefit of animals
and humans alike,”
Hayward noted.
The companies acknowledge that
their five “LineaDNA” vaccines, as
they call them, are not guaranteed
to be approved by regulatory agencies,
which would be critical before
the vaccines reach the public. The
companies believe that their collaboration
on linear vaccines against
the disease Covid-19 offers unique
advantages in the development of
vaccines, and that no single vaccine
will offer a universal solution to the
pandemic.
Applied DNA has also been conducting
Covid-19 surveillance testing, a
method aimed at reducing community
spread. Hayward said that the
testing “has been seen as a powerful
tool to protect classrooms, workplaces,
and other populations from
Covid-19.”
-BB
Applied DNA Sciences CEO James
Hayward. (Photo by Bob Giglione)
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
