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Today I got an interesting message as I checked my LinkedIn.

It was from Mark Emalfarb, CEO of Dyadic International, Inc. (DYAI)

We had a conversation for about 20 minutes. He tells me that his biotech company has a way of developing proteins for vaccines at a much faster and cheaper rate than what is occurring at the moment.

Dyadic’s describes itself “as focused on further improving, applying and deploying its C1-cell protein production platform to accelerate development, lower production costs and improve access to biologic vaccines and drugs,” in a recent press release.

Image Source: Pixabay

One of the biggest problems with the pandemic he says is that if we don’t treat the whole world, we will not treat the disease. But at the current rate and cost, this has not been feasible.

It is clear many are clear out of luck with the disease. I quickly tell Emalfarb, that I just got back from the hospital after receiving treatment for my stage 4 cancer, treated by Opdivo.

This treatment is a $125,000 a year, far out of the reach of many, Emalfarb says. He tells me his company has a way of making a generic opdivo - now I'm really listening. It is a drug that certainly the whole world can’t afford and has helped prolong my life with far less pain.

Mark tells me has got on a meeting at 2 and casually slips in, “by the way we are traded on the Nasdaq.”  

Dyadic International shares were up over 6% on January 3rd. Shares are up over 35% in the last month. Surprisingly, the company has no debt despite operating at a loss.

It is clear that Dyadic is dedicated on making a media push, their tech is promising, it is a relevant and timely news story for a micro biotech company with $135 million in market cap.

Appearing on Yahoo Finance a few days prior, The CEO tells Yahoo Finance that “it is a shame the government didn’t support large-scale mass production of a traditional vaccine like ours”, instead opting for the mNRA vaccine that is currently in use.

But the CEO can’t say it isn’t getting any government support. On December 22nd, 2021, Dyadic International, Inc. announced it is the recipient of one of thirty-two project grants awarded by the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals funded through the White House’s American Rescue Plan.

Under the NIIMBL grant, Dyadic will receive up to $690,000 in funding to engineer the Company’s proprietary and patented C1 thermophilic fungal (Thermothelomyces heterothallica) protein production platform to produce two different antibodies. 

That is not all.

On December 17 the company released news that it has entered into an agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., an arm of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).

Under the terms of the deal, Dyadic will receive an upfront payment of $500,000 for non exclusive rights to utilize the C1 platform against several biologic targets.

While there are several terms of the agreement that pays Dyadic in the low to mid 7 figures per product candidate it implements its C1 platform into, Dyadic could receive commercial milestone payments in the low 9 figures per product.

While it is clear that the company has several catalysts for the year moving forward, the company is officially on my watch list.

Should I stop here or follow up with Mark and do more research on Dyadic? Let me know in the comments or feel free to reach out.