Applied DNA Sciences Granted US Patent: "DNA Marking of Previously Undistinguished Items for Traceability"

STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwired - March 03, 2016) - Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (Twitter: @APDN), a provider of DNA-based supply chain, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technology, product genotyping, and product authentication solutions, announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted US Patent No. 9,266,370, entitled, "DNA Marking of Previously Undistinguished Items for Traceability" to APDN on February 23, 2016.

This is the first patent to issue from a new generation of patent applications that do not begin to expire before October of 2032, providing Applied DNA with a very strong, broad based patent portfolio for years to come. We expect the next patent in this group to issue in the next few weeks.

The intellectual property (IP) protected by this patent covers the use of the Company's proprietary DNA to mark, authenticate and track items with DNA in the coating or in the material itself. It is applicable in a broad range of markets, including, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, industrial materials, and electronics. 

In fact, this is the very same technology that was being demonstrated at the Medical Japan Expo 2016 last week. This patent further secures the Company's proprietary use of DNA printing and helps to further differentiate Applied DNA in the marketplace.

Dr. Benjamin Liang, Chief Scientific Officer, APDN, stated: "This patent demonstrates our continuous effort to expand our DNA marking and traceability capability into various printing/marking modalities for a wide range of products such as electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive, and household items. The issuance of this patent will provide a strong support for our efforts in building SigNature DNA marking business in both pharmaceutical and home asset markings."

This patent strengthens the Company's position by protecting and expanding the proprietary methodologies used to mark items with DNA. This Patent describes methods of using DNA in an activated form to mark goods, together with optical or chemical markers for authentication or tracking purposes.

Dr. James Hayward, CEO of APDN stated: "Our IP estate is among our most valuable assets, including now more than 35 issued patents and more than 75 pending. Patents protect the products and methodologies we have spent millions of dollars to perfect. We intend to enforce our patent rights in every business category."

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. Our patented DNA-based solutions can be used to identify, tag, track, and trace products, to help assure authenticity, traceability and quality of products. SigNature^® DNA describes the platform ingredient that is at the heart of a family of uncopyable, security and authentication solutions such as SigNature^® T and fiberTyping^®, targeted toward textiles and apparel, DNAnet^®, for anti-theft and loss prevention, and digitalDNA^®, providing powerful track and trace. All provide a forensic chain of evidence, and can be used to prosecute perpetrators. We are also engaged in the large-scale production of specific DNA sequences using the polymerase chain reaction.

Go to adnas.com for more information, events and to learn more about how Applied DNA Sciences makes life real and safe. Common stock listed on NASDAQ under the symbol APDN, and warrants are listed under the symbol APDNW. 

Forward Looking Statements

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 14, 2015,and our subsequent quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on February 10, 2016 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.