Dyadic International Reports First Quarter 2018 Financial Results

• Three new research collaborations
• Positive results in our initial glycoengineering modifications of C1 strains
• Achieving high levels of productivity for therapeutic proteins
• Board approved a reverse stock split subject to shareholder approval
• Recognized industry thought leader joins board
• New Chief Accounting Officer appointed
• $47.7 million of cash, cash equivalents and investment securities at March 31, 2018

JUPITER, Fla., May 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”) (OTCQX:DYAI), a global biotechnology company focused on further improving and applying its proprietary C1 gene expression platform to speed up the development and production of biologic vaccines and drugs at flexible commercial scales, announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.

“Based on the encouraging data we generated to date in our research programs, we are seeing increased interest in our C1 Gene Expression Platform and gaining traction in our business development efforts,” said Mark Emalfarb, President and CEO of Dyadic. “We continue to see additional positive data that we anticipate will expedite our entering into a number of further, but just as important, additional research collaborations throughout the remainder of the year.”

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

• Entered into three research collaborations, including Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. and the Israel Institute for Biological Research.
• Data generated from research collaborations with two top-tier pharmaceutical companies continues to show encouraging results on FC-Fusion proteins and monoclonal antibody productivity and manufacturing process development.
• Reached productivity levels as high as 1.71 grams per liter per day for monoclonal antibodies and 1.31 grams per liter per day for FC-Fusion proteins.
• Achieved positive results in our initial glycoengineering modifications of C1 strains, moving ahead with our research programs to develop C1 strains that produce mAbs with mammalian-like glycosylation.
• In March 2018, the Board approved a proposal to vote on a reverse stock split at the annual shareholder meeting to be held on June 6, 2018.
• Barry Buckland, Ph.D., a recognized industry thought leader, including 29 years at Merck, joined the Board of Directors in January 2018.
• Promoted to Chief Accounting Officer, Ping W. Rawson, who has replaced Tom Dubinski, our former Chief Financial Officer, to serve as the Company's principal financial officer and assume responsibility for finance, tax and treasury.

FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2018

At March 31, 2018, cash and cash equivalents were approximately $4.6 million compared to $5.8 million at December 31, 2017. The carrying value of investment-grade securities, including interest receivable as of March 31, 2018, was approximately $43.1 million compared to $43.3 million at December 31, 2017.

Research and development revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2018, increased to approximately $184,000 compared to $122,000 for the same period a year ago. Cost of research and development revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2018, increased to approximately $147,000 compared to $122,000 for the same period a year ago. The increases in revenue and cost of research and development revenue are attributable to new research collaborations in 2018.

Provision for contract losses for the three months ended March 31, 2018, was $0 compared to approximately $211,000 for the same period a year ago. The provision for contract losses recorded in 2017 was associated with the Company's extended involvement in the ZAPI program and another research collaboration completed in 2017.

Research and development expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2018, increased to approximately $577,000 compared to $320,000 for the same period a year ago. The increase principally reflects the costs of additional internal research activities with third-party contract research organizations and personnel related costs.

Research and development expenses - related party, for the three months ended March 31, 2018, increased to approximately $393,000 compared to $0 for the same period a year ago. The increase reflects the research and development costs associated with the Company’s R&D Agreements with BDI, which started in July 2017.

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2018, decreased to approximately $1,293,000 compared to $1,790,000 for the same period a year ago. The decrease principally reflects reductions in legal and litigation costs of approximately $561,000 and share-based compensation expenses related to stock options granted in 2018 of approximately $92,000, offset by separation costs associated with our former CFO of approximately $97,000, increase in business development costs of approximately $55,000, and other increases of approximately $4,000.

Foreign currency exchange loss for the three months ended March 31, 2018, was approximately $5,000 compared to a gain of $28,000 for the same period a year ago. The change represents the currency fluctuation of the Euro in comparison to U.S. dollar.

Interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2018, increased to approximately $186,000 compared to $116,000 for the same period a year ago. The increase in interest income reflects the higher yield on the Company’s investment grade securities, which are classified as held-to-maturity.

Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, was approximately $(2.0) million, or $(0.07) per basic and diluted share, compared to net income of $2.1 million, or $0.07 per basic and diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Net income in the first quarter of 2017 was primarily due to the receipt of a litigation settlement of approximately $4.4 million. 

As of March 31, 2018, there were approximately 28.1 million shares of common stock outstanding and approximately 10.9 million shares held in treasury, after the Company purchased 267,000 shares at a weighted average price of $1.40 per share in open market transactions in the first quarter of 2018.

CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

Dyadic management will host a conference call today, Thursday, May 10, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. to discuss the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. In order to participate in the conference call, please dial 800-839-7875 for U.S./Canada callers and +719-325-4891 for International callers, using access code 7239777.

A replay of the conference call will be available on Dyadic’s website (www.dyadic.com) 24 hours after the live event.

About Dyadic International, Inc.

Dyadic International, Inc. is a global biotechnology company which is developing what it believes will be a potentially significant biopharmaceutical gene expression platform based on the fungus Myceliophthora thermophila, named C1. The C1 microorganism, which enables the development and large scale manufacture of low cost proteins, has the potential to be further developed into a safe and efficient expression system that may help speed up the development, lower production costs and improve the performance of biologic vaccines and drugs at flexible commercial scales. Dyadic is using the C1 technology and other technologies to conduct research, development and commercial activities for the development and manufacturing of human and animal vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, biosimilars/biobetters, and other therapeutic proteins. Dyadic pursues research and development collaborations, licensing arrangements and other commercial opportunities with its partners and collaborators to leverage the value and benefits of these technologies in development and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals. In particular, as the aging population grows in developed and undeveloped countries, Dyadic believes the C1 technology may help bring biologic drugs to market faster, in greater volumes, at lower cost, and with new properties to drug developers and manufacturers and, hopefully, improve access and cost to patients and the healthcare system, but most importantly save lives.

Please visit Dyadic’s website at www.dyadic.com for additional information, including details regarding Dyadic’s plans for its biopharmaceutical business.

Dyadic trades on the OTCQX tier of the OTC marketplace. Investors can find real-time quotes, market information and financial reports for Dyadic in the Company’s annual and quarterly reports which are filed with the OTC markets. Please visit the OTC markets website at www.otcmarkets.com/stock/DYAI/quote.

Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “look forward to,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Dyadic’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Dyadic expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, any changes in expectations or any change in events. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: (1) general economic, political and market conditions; (2) our ability to carry out and implement our biopharmaceutical research and business plans and strategic initiatives; (3) our ability to retain and attract employees, consultants, directors and advisors; (4) our ability to implement and successfully carry out Dyadic’s and third parties research and development efforts; (5) our ability to obtain new license and research agreements; (6) our ability to maintain our existing access to, and/or expand access to third party contract research organizations in order to carry out our research projects for ourselves and third parties; (7) competitive pressures and reliance on key customers and collaborators; and (8) other factors discussed in Dyadic’s publicly available filings, including information set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in our  December 31, 2017 Annual Report filed with the OTC Markets on March 27, 2018, and our March 31, 2017 Quarterly Report filed with the OTC Markets on May 10, 2018.  New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us.

Important Information about the Reverse Stock Split Proposal

This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in connection with the proposal to be submitted to Dyadic’s shareholders at its annual meeting seeking approval to authorize a reverse stock split (the “Reverse Stock Split Proposal”).

A notice of the annual meeting and a proxy statement to solicit the votes of Dyadic stockholders to approve the Reverse Split Proposal (the “Proxy Statement”) was posted to Dyadic’s website (www.dyadic.com) and the OTC Marketplace Portal (http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/DYAI/filings) on April 18, 2018 and subsequently mailed to Dyadic stockholders. Shareholders of Dyadic are urged to read the proxy statement and all other relevant documents filed with the OTC Markets, because they may contain important information about the Reverse Stock Split Proposal and Dyadic.

Dyadic and its Board of Directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Dyadic common stock in respect of the Reverse Stock Split Proposal. Information about the directors and executive officers of Dyadic is set forth in the Proxy Statement. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interest of Dyadic and its directors and executive officers in the Reverse Stock Split Proposal by reading the proxy statement relating to the special meeting.

Contact:

Dyadic International, Inc.
Ping W. Rawson
Chief Accounting Officer
Phone: +1 (561) 743-8333
Email: prawson@dyadic.com

DYADIC INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS