Jul 18, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Applied DNA Expands Long-Term CertainT™ Agreement with Loftex Home for Towels

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (“Applied DNA,” “the Company,” NASDAQ: APDN), has signed a new multi-year, exclusive license agreement with Loftex Home, LLC, a well respected manufacturer of high-quality towels and home textiles. Under a prior agreement announced in March 2017, Applied DNA provides CertainT™ platform services to Loftex to verify the authenticity and origin of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET post-consumer) used in bath and beach towels. The first products using recycled PET verified with the CertainT platform are expected at retail by the fourth quarter of 2017. The new multi-year agreement between the two companies is now exclusive for bath and beach towels in the United States, non-exclusive for plush throws and bath rugs, and provides for long term guaranteed minimum annual revenues as well as trademark licensing royalties to Applied DNA.

“Retailers, brands and consumers want to know where their products come from and where they are going,” said Charles Gaenslen, CEO of Loftex Home. “Sustainability product claims are central to our recycled PET programs and CertainT verifies our claims throughout the supply chain. Our initial agreement with Applied DNA evolved to be a long-term exclusive collaboration addressing the need for transparency in supply chains. The response from retailers based on our initial launch of our Fusion Fibers with CertainT collection announced in March exceeded our expectations, which is why we are expanding our use of recycled PET verified by the CertainT platform.”

CertainT provides a single platform to tag, test, track and trace products throughout a certified supply chain. Applied DNA’s molecular tag is extruded into the recycled components that create recycled PET fiber with no impact to performance or quality of the blended staple or filament PET yarns. Thereafter, any piece of the CertainT-tagged towels may be authenticated by detecting the molecular tag present in the recycled PET fiber, thus ensuring the recycled nature and origin of the fiber. Loftex will use recycled PET verified by CertainT to create recycled PET and cotton blended towels. The benefits of a blended recycled PET and cotton towels include less drying time and less water usage during washing, making for a more sustainable and time-saving end product.

“This new exclusive collaboration enables Loftex to provide an added level of trust to its customers,” said Dr. James Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA. “The ability to differentiate its brand in a competitive marketplace reinforces Loftex’ leadership as a transparent and responsible brand. As a licensee, Loftex also highlights the growing awareness and adoption of our CertainT program, which integrates our commercial platforms into a licensable strategy, with a public-facing trademark that stands for authenticity and performance.”

About Loftex Home

Loftex has established a global reputation for leadership in innovation, fashion, quality, sustainability and value as a supplier of bath towels, beach towels and plush throws. Founded in 1980, this privately held firm started as a beach towel factory and has steadily expanded in the international marketplace; Loftex is now one of the largest terry towel producers in the world. Product innovation is key to the company’s success. Loftex focuses on mid- to upper-end channels of distribution, offering excellent service and the finest quality products at competitive prices to major U.S. retail customers. The company develops products specifically to serve the needs of its major markets, all with the goal of engaging the ultimate consumer through touch, loft and overall tactile and visual appeal.

About Applied DNA Sciences

Applied DNA is a provider of molecular technologies that enable supply chain security, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technology, product genotyping and DNA mass production for diagnostics and therapeutics.

We make life real and safe by providing innovative, molecular-based technology 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. The proprietary DNA-based “CertainT™” platform can be used to identify, tag, test, and track products, to help assure authenticity, origin, traceability, sustainability and quality of products. SigNature® DNA describes the core technology 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, BackTrac™ and 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. Applied DNA Sciences is also engaged in the large-scale production of specific DNA sequences using the polymerase chain reaction.

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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 6, 2016, and our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed on February 9, 2017, and May 11, 2017 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.