Press release content from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation. Applied DNA Achieves Program Milestone in Development of Linear DNA Veterinary COVID-19 Vaccine February 2, 2021 GMT STONY BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 2, 2021-- Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (the “Company”), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing, today announced that it has qualified a freeze-dried (lyophilized) form of its LinearDNA™ COVID-19 vaccine candidate for its upcoming feline clinical trial. Lyophilization renders the vaccine candidate shelf-stable and convenient to ship globally at room temperature, thereby circumventing a key logistical limitation inherent to all existing nucleic acid-based (human and veterinary) vaccines. Quantities of the lyophilized vaccine candidate were manufactured and shipped packaged in vials to its program development partner, EvviVax, S.R.L. (“EvviVax”) for preclinical potency, sterility, and endotoxin testing. Potency tests on the lyophilized vaccine candidate resolubilized with water for use proved that its efficacy in cell culture matched the potency of the vaccine’s candidate non-lyophilized form. Based on the testing results, the Company remains on track to initiate its previously announced feline COVID-19 vaccine trial by March 31, 2021.