Applied DNA Sciences Completes DNA Marking of 10,000 Bales of American Pima Cotton

STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwired - February 05, 2015) - Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN), (Twitter: @APDN), a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting technology, supply chain and product authentication solutions, has completed a campaign for SigNature T DNA marking of pima cotton fibers destined for one of America's largest retailers. More than 10,000 bales of extra long staple, pima cotton have been securely marked at the fiber level with APDN's botanically-derived DNA, and are en route to off-shore locations in Asia for conversion to finished goods, that will ultimately be sold at retail this year.

"This project marks the first deployment of APDN's DNA technology solutions in Asia, marking and authenticating pima cotton fibers grown in California. It is a historic first step toward increased transparency and compliance for textile supply chains worldwide. We are grateful toward our supply chain partners for their unwavering desire to deliver the best possible product to the consumer," said Dr. James A. Hayward, President & CEO, APDN.

The project's sponsor is a US-based distributor of fine textiles, which provides finished products to many of America's largest brands and retailers. The implementation of the supply chain driven solutions involves multiple corporate alliances for APDN. In combination, the market valuations of the members of this supply chain total more than $200 billion.

Stated MeiLin Wan, Executive Director, Textiles, "These bales follow a trusted supply chain, with proper chain of custody protocols backed with on-site inspection and independent third party sampling procedures of converted yarn, fabrics and finished goods. Assurance of global supply chain integrity, and of the 100 percent extra long staple pima content of the final product, will be achieved with our patented DNA authentication methods at each step in the supply chain."

Diagnosis and Prevention
As part of APDN's suite of DNA authentication services, the Company offers both diagnosis of label non-compliance for pima cotton (fiberTyping), and preventive solutions (SigNature T DNA) to mark and authenticate original product from the point of origin to point of sale.

• APDN's patented diagnostic assay, known as fiberTyping^®, can determine the genetic composition of cotton textiles to determine whether the product is label compliant with federal law, or not. While noncompliant with compositional label claims, the textiles often still meet technical specifications necessary to fulfill orders. The resulting finished products, however, may not hold up to normal wear and laundering, may have a diminished feel or "hand", and may have an abbreviated usable lifetime.
• APDN's SigNature^® T DNA markers can help to monitor supply chain integrity and trace the original fibers, before and after each of the manufacturing steps, which are often completed in a different country for each incremental step in the supply chain.

Dr. Hayward further commented, "I am not unsympathetic to the tough requirements placed on off-shore manufacturers who supply a demanding American market. However, US federal law mandates that American consumers get what they pay for. Our evidence suggests that retailers are often misled in complex supply chains, and the ultimate victim is the consumer. Our mission is to 'make life real and safe' for the consumer."

About Applied DNA Sciences
We make life real and safe by providing botanical-DNA based security and authentication 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. SigNature^® DNA describes the uncopyable marker that is at the heart of all of our security and authentication solutions. SigNature DNA is at the core of a family of products such as DNAnet^®, our anti-theft product, SigNature^® T, targeted toward textiles, and digitalDNA^®, providing powerful track and trace. All provide a forensic chain of evidence and can be used to prosecute perpetrators.

Applied DNA Sciences is listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol APDN, and its warrants are listed under the symbol APDNW. 

Forward-Looking Statement
The statements made by APDN 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 APDN'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 APDN. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to our short operating history, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance, market competition and various other factors detailed from time to time in APDN's SEC reports and filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on December 15, 2014, which are available at www.sec.gov. APDN 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.