Dyadic Announces Strategic Partnership Agreement to Develop Affordable Rabies Prophylactics and Vaccines Using its Proprietary C1 Cell Microbial Protein Production Platform
JUPITER, Fla. and BUNNIK, the Netherlands, Feb. 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: DYAI), a global biotechnology company focused on applying its innovative microbial protein production platforms to address the growing demand for global protein bioproduction and unmet clinical needs for effective, affordable and accessible biopharmaceutical products for human and animal health today announced its Dutch subsidiary, Dyadic Nederland BV has entered into a strategic partnership agreement and collaboration with Rabian BV (“Rabian”), a Dutch innovative SME founded by experienced entrepreneurs and vaccine scientists. The aim is to develop highly efficacious, scalable, and affordable rabies prophylactics and vaccines utilizing Dyadic’s C1 protein production platform. This collaboration seeks to address the global burden of rabies, a disease that annually claims tens of thousands of lives.
Awarded by Eurostars for the AVATAR project, a part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs, and co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe. Rabian will use the total funding of approximately Є 1.7 million leveraging its expertise in virology to develop a rabies vaccine using Dyadic’s C1 protein production platform to tackle the challenges posed by rabies, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries. As per the strategic partnership agreement, Dyadic will receive an equity stake in, fully funded research and development costs, and specified product milestones and royalties upon commercialization.
Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am excited to be able to continue our long relationship with Rabian’s scientists in their mission to provide affordable vaccines and prophylactics for Lower- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), as well as to expand potential opportunities for human health commercial traveler products using Dyadic’s proprietary C1 platform. Rabies kills thousands each year and we welcome the opportunity to address this terrible human health issue with such a capable partner”.
Drs. Carine Punt, CEO of Rabian, emphasized the extensive collaboration between Rabian’s scientists and Dyadic spanning nearly a decade with projects such as the EU-funded Zoonosis Anticipation Preparedness Initiative (ZAPI) and pre-clinical vaccine development for diseases like rabies and COVID-19. Drs. Punt highlighted the potential of combining advances in vaccinology with Dyadic’s C1 protein production platform to accelerate research, enhance product development, and lower manufacturing costs.
Drs. Punt underscored the ongoing threat of rabies to human lives, especially in resource-poor communities, and emphasized the importance of making preventive vaccination more widely available, particularly for travelers to endemic areas. Despite the availability of preventive vaccination and post-exposure treatment, rabies continues to claim thousands of lives annually, with the highest incidence in LMICs. Drs. Punt highlighted the need for concerted efforts to combat rabies and ensure its prevention through accessible and cost-effective vaccination strategies.
About Rabian BV
Rabian BV is an innovative Dutch SME in the field of infectious diseases, founded in 2023 by a multi-disciplinary team of seasoned entrepreneurs and world-leading scientists with a broad background in immunology, virology, and commercialization. It is our mission to develop cost-effective vaccines and post-exposure treatments of diseases with endemic and pandemic potential. Rabian aims to become a leading developer of cost-effective vaccine and prophylactic therapies of endemic infectious diseases.
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.
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 of our clinical trial 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 International, Inc.
Ping W. Rawson
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (561) 743-8333
Email: ir@dyadic.com
