Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the
“Company”) (NASDAQ: DYAI), a global biotechnology company focused
on building innovative microbial platforms to address the growing
demand for global protein bioproduction and unmet needs for
effective, affordable and accessible biopharmaceutical products and
alternative proteins for human and animal health, today announced
that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with
the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (“VIC”) at Massachusetts
General Hospital, as part of VIC’s collaboration with Voltron
Therapeutics, Inc. (“Voltron”), to use Dyadic’s proprietary C1
protein production platform to express vaccine antigens for
influenza A and other infectious diseases.
This research collaboration resulted from a
$5.88 million award that VIC received from the U.S. Department of
Defense (“DoD”). The award is intended to be used to advance the
development of a Self-Assembling Vaccine (“SAV”) Platform for rapid
production of prophylactic vaccines for various infectious
diseases. VIC will be working with Dyadic and Voltron with the goal
of enabling the scalable, efficient, and rapid development of
prophylactic vaccines applicable to various infectious diseases for
use in the U.S. military, as well as in the general population.
It is anticipated that the novel SAV platform
will provide several unique features that offer a promising
solution for the U.S. military’s needs, including speed of
development, as well as targeting flexibility through the
attachment of proteins, monoclonal antibodies, small molecules,
neoantigens or lipids. SAVs have demonstrated the potential to
cause more efficacious immune response and protection, which
provides a promising strategy for vaccine construction. If
successful, this collaboration represents a potential commercial
opportunity for Dyadic to receive revenues from products brought to
market through this and other projects.
“I am excited to announce this collaboration
with the VIC at Massachusetts General Hospital and to be working
with Voltron,” said Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic’s Chief Executive
Officer. “This collaboration represents an important step in
applying and adopting our proprietary C1 platform to enable more
rapid and efficient production of antigens and vaccines. We expect
this collaboration to further enhance key attributes of Dyadic’s C1
technology: the potential ability to develop and manufacture large
quantities of vaccines in 100 days or less in a cost-effective
manner at flexible commercial scales. We believe we are well
positioned to create valuable and innovative solutions to
infectious disease vaccine development utilizing Voltron’s
Self-Assembling Vaccine technology,” Mr. Emalfarb concluded.
“Scientifically, we have continued to
demonstrate consistent results: excellent safety with very high,
significant immunogenicity and, where tested, statistically
significant efficacy,” said Dr. Mark Poznansky, Director of the
VIC. He added, “The critical initiative this award will fund is
designed to further demonstrate speed and meaningfully increased
flexibility working with full protein targeting constructs. These
constructs will allow us to explore additional viral targets in
infectious diseases. We look forward to Dyadic’s important
contribution to this effort.”
“As the licensee of the SAV platform, Voltron
Therapeutics is looking forward to working with Dyadic to explore
the potential of their C1 protein production platform to produce
vaccine antigens that could be used as part of Voltron’s
Self-Assembling Vaccine technology,” said Patrick J. Gallagher,
chief executive officer of Voltron Therapeutics. He added, “This
program will accelerate Voltron’s development of the SAV platform
to enable more rapid and efficient production of both the fixed and
variable components of the vaccine. We anticipate that this work
will help create a valuable infectious disease pipeline as well as
contribute to our Immuno-Oncology programs.”
About Dyadic International,
Inc.
Dyadic International, Inc. is a global
biotechnology company focused on building innovative microbial
platforms to address the growing demand for global protein
bioproduction and unmet clinical needs for effective, affordable,
and accessible biopharmaceutical products and alternative proteins
for human and animal health.
Dyadic’s gene expression and protein production
platforms are based on the highly productive and scalable
fungus Thermothelomyces heterothallica (formerly
Myceliophthora thermophila). Our lead technology, C1-cell
protein production platform, is based on an industrially proven
microorganism (named C1), which is currently used to speed
development, lower production costs, and improve performance of
biologic vaccines and drugs at flexible commercial scales for the
human and animal health markets. Dyadic has also developed the
Dapibus™ filamentous fungal based microbial protein production
platform to enable the rapid development and large-scale
manufacture of low-cost proteins, metabolites, and other biologic
products for use in non-pharmaceutical applications, such as food,
nutrition, and wellness.
With a passion to enable our partners and
collaborators to develop effective preventative and therapeutic
treatments in both developed and emerging countries, Dyadic is
building an active pipeline by advancing its proprietary microbial
platform technologies, including our lead asset DYAI-100 COVID-19
vaccine candidate, as well as other biologic vaccines, antibodies,
and other biological products.
To learn more about Dyadic and our commitment to
helping bring vaccines and other biologic products to market
faster, in greater volumes and at lower cost, please
visit https://www.dyadic.com.
About Vaccine and
Immunotherapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital
The Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC) at
Massachusetts General Hospital is a cross-disciplinary center that
explores and develops new ways to modulate the immune system for
therapeutic benefit in the context of cancer, infectious and
immune-mediated disease including Type 1 Diabetes and ALS.
Our approach is deeply collaborative and
involves leveraging the expertise and direct involvement of
academic and industry scientists from US and abroad. We currently
have nine products in our pipeline including a novel biologic
immunotherapy for specific forms of cancer, a vaccine for
HPV-related cancer, a novel microencapsulant to enable allogeneic
cell or tissue transplantation without systemic immune suppression,
and a novel immune cell-based therapy for ALS and traumatic brain
injury.
VIC explores and develops new ways to modulate
the immune system for therapeutic benefit in the context of cancer,
infectious and immune mediated disease including Type 1 Diabetes
and ALS. Our approach is deeply collaborative and involves
leveraging the expertise and direct involvement of academic and
industry scientists from US and abroad.
VIC supports rapid-pace, high-impact research
initiatives that are in the process of safely transitioning from
the research lab to patients. We are targeting areas of clinical
unmet need like immunotherapies or vaccines for ovarian cancer,
mesothelioma, Q fever, type 1 diabetes and ALS. We leverage our
position and the amazing breadth of scientific and clinical ability
of staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a global leader in
medical research and healthcare to maximize the transfer of
knowledge between clinical need and discovery and supports the
brightest ideas of team members at VIC to progress from discovery
to product development and first in human testing. VIC positions
discoveries for smooth handoff into a full development program with
industry or US governmental partners; we work with the end in mind
and are exit-oriented.
About Voltron Therapeutics,
Inc.
Voltron Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware
corporation, was founded in 2017 to lead and accelerate the
development of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC), and the
Massachusetts General Hospital's novel Self Assembling Vaccine
technology in a variety of indications, including in Oncology and
Emerging Infectious Diseases. Voltron holds an exclusive worldwide
license to this technology. With the work of our world class team
of researchers and development team, this technology has shown
positive results in certain pre-clinical studies and initial proof
of concept in two infectious diseases (including Lassa Fever) as
well as three oncology indications (HPV Related Cancers). For more
information, please visit www.voltrontx.com.
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
including those regarding Dyadic International’s expectations,
intentions, strategies, and beliefs pertaining to future events or
future financial performance, such as the success and interest in
our protein production platforms, our research projects and
third-party collaborations, as well as the availability of
necessary funding. Actual events or results may differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements because of various
important factors, including those described in the Company’s most
recent filings with the SEC. Dyadic assumes no obligation to update
publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether because of
new information, future events or otherwise. For a more complete
description of the risks that could cause our actual results to
differ from our current expectations, please see the section
entitled “Risk Factors” in Dyadic’s annual reports on Form 10-K and
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, as such factors
may be updated from time to time in Dyadic’s periodic filings with
the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website and
at www.dyadic.com.
Contact Dyadic:Dyadic
International, Inc.Ping W. RawsonChief Financial OfficerPhone:
(561) 743-8333Email: ir@dyadic.com
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