Dyadic Advances Collaboration With Israel Institute for Biological Research Targeting Bio-Threats & Emerging Disease Solutions

Dyadic International, Inc. and Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) recently announced it has advanced its collaboration with IIBR and its commercial arm Life Science Research Israel (LSRI) to target emerging disease solutions. This partnership aims to leverage Dyadic’s expertise in microbial platforms for flexible scale protein bioproduction and the IIBR’s antibodies and antigens discovery capabilities to develop and manufacture innovative solutions for addressing emerging diseases and potential bio-threats. Through this collaboration, both parties are working towards the development of effective treatments and vaccines to combat global health challenges with the intention of future commercialization (to date, the framework is non-binding and subject to the execution of a binding agreement to be negotiated by the parties) through collaborative out-licensing initiatives.

Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic’s CEO, expressed excitement about advancing the collaboration with the IIBR. The IIBR will enhance Dyadic’s C1 cell lines using proprietary gene sequences to improve biomanufacturing of recombinant vaccines and neutralizing agents, including targeted antigens and monoclonal antibodies. The joint effort is focused on addressing emerging diseases through global commercial out-licensing initiatives to increase access and affordability of vaccines and antibodies to patients.

Baruch Shahar, the General Manager of LSRI, emphasized the collaborative history with Dyadic, which began in January 2018 and expanded during the pandemic. Mr. Shahar highlighted their satisfaction with ongoing work using Dyadic’s C1 technology to co-develop vaccines and treatments targeting biological outbreaks, including pandemics and other threats. The collaboration aims to expedite the development of safe, protective, and effective vaccines and treatments against various biothreat agents, including toxins, viruses, and bacteria. These products can be manufactured more rapidly, in larger quantities and at a lower cost using Dyadic’s C1 protein expression platform.

The Israel Institute for Biological Research was established in 1952 as a governmental research institute, founded by a group of scientists from the IDF Science Corps and from academic organizations. IIBR is located in the small city of Nes Ziona. Over the years, the Institute has been engaged in R&D in the fields of biology, chemistry, and environmental sciences in order to provide the State of Israel with scientific response to chemical and biological threats. Alongside this specialized activity, IIBR scientists contributed to the development of a vaccine for polio (1959); developed kits for the detection of explosive materials (1980); developed a brand name drug against Sjogren syndrome (1984) marketed all over the world and is one of four brand name drugs developed in Israel. In 1991, a governmental company, Life Sciences Research Israel (LSRI) was established alongside the Institute and serves as its business and marketing arm. Since 1992, a unique laboratory for the nationwide diagnosis of diseases caused by the bacteria Rickettsia, Ehrlichia and Leptospira was established in IIBR. Since 1995, the Institute has operated as a government-affiliated unit that researches all areas of defense against chemical and biological weapons, including the operation of national laboratories for detection and identification of such treats. For more information, visit www.iibr.gov.il.

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. For more information, visit https://www.dyadic.com.