Benzinga | Dec 11, 2020 08:03AM EST

Applied DNA Sciences Says Its Applied DNA Clinical Laboratories Subsidiary Is Experiencing Growing Demand For COVID-19 Surveillance Testing Program, Partly Driven By NY State Winter COVID-19 Plan

- ADCL Signs Agreements with Schools and Colleges with a Potential Weekly Testing Population of >5,000 Individuals, Some Agreements Contingent on Funding; Sales Pipeline Exceeds 20 Schools -

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:APDN) ("Applied DNA" or the "Company"), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing, announced that its Applied DNA Clinical Laboratories, LLC (ADCL) subsidiary is experiencing growing demand for its safeCircle(tm) pooled COVID-19 surveillance testing program that is being primarily driven by New York State (the "State") schools moving to comply with the State's Winter COVID-19 Plan (the "Plan") that allows for pooled COVID-19 testing of their student, faculty, and staff populations based on infection rate thresholds. The Company has secured new agreements with schools and colleges that represent a potential weekly testing population of >5,000 individuals, from which a varying percentage are tested each week. Several contracts are contingent on the schools' ability to secure funding. The Plan is also contributing to a substantial expansion in safeCircle's sales pipeline that currently exceeds 20 schools.

The Plan targets micro-clusters to keep school infection rates under control and under their respective communities' infection rates by requiring schools in Orange and Red micro-cluster zones to conduct weekly testing. Schools in Orange zones will be required to test 20% of in-person students, faculty, and staff over the course of a month, and schools in Red Zones will be required to test 30% of in-person students, faculty, and staff over a month1. Schools can make use of rapid tests offered by the State, though such tests either recommend that negative results be confirmed with a PCR-based test or are low throughput, thereby increasing the amount of time needed to make informed decisions to prevent outbreaks from occurring and adding further complexity to the testing process.

safeCircle is a proprietary COVID-19 pooled surveillance testing program that utilizes the Company's PCR-based, Linea(tm) COVID-19 Assay Kit in conjunction with an automated, high-throughput testing workflow and equipment, software, and services to return de-identified aggregate pooled surveillance test results within 24 hours.

Dr. James A. Hayward, president and CEO, Applied DNA, said, "What we hear from schools and school districts is that they know they need to test educators and students for COVID-19, but they do not know how to access testing. Our safeCircle program is a highly customizable solution that can be easily administered to deliver ongoing, consistent, and highly accurate surveillance testing proactively to protect schools and classrooms. With safeCircle, educators can identify infections early and in a cost-efficient and expedient manner. With safeCircle, educators and students can return to the business of education."