Applied DNA Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:APDN) shares were down 0.70% to $2.84 on Friday and flat in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $2.35 to $4.88. The company has a market cap of $68.14 million at 24.08 million shares outstanding.
Applied DNA Sciences Inc is a company that provides plant-based deoxyribonucleic acid security, and authentication solutions and services that help protect products, brands, supply chains and intellectual property of companies, governments and consumers from theft, counterfeiting, fraud and diversion. It is also engaged in the production of specific DNA sequences using the polymerase chain reaction. Its product solutionsare SigNature DNA, SigNature T DNA, fiberTyping, DNAnet, Sentry, digitalDNA and SmokeCloak DNA which are used in various industries.
Around the middle of October, Applied DNA Sciences Inc appointed Robert B. Catell to its Board of Directors to assist in the company’s expansion into the protection of critical infrastructure in power grids and railways. Catell has had tremendous experience in the field of energy utilities and is Chairman of the New York State Smart Grid Consortium and Chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at Stony Brook University. Prior to this, he has served on the Board of New York State Energy Research & Developmental Authority and is on the NYS Economic Development Power Allocation Board. Catell was also formerly Chairman and CEO of KeySpan Corporation and KeySpan Delivery and Chairman of National Grid.
Protection of assets in the power and transportation industries is critical not only to the agencies that run these businesses but to our citizens as well. I look forward to taking an even more active role in helping the team at Applied DNA enter and succeed in these markets,” Catell remarked.
Applied DNA Sciences Inc CEO James Hayward also noted that the company has been impressed by Catell’s knowledge and experience in the industry, providing insight into important markets that include protecting critical infrastructure as well as power grids and railways.
A few months before this, Applied DNA Sciences Inc also appointed Bob Miglani as Chief of Business Development. In this role, Miglani will be responsible for building the company’s business within the FDA-regulated markets, including pharmaceuticals, foods, personal care and medical devices and lead the team responsible for creating and driving commercial strategies within these large and important sectors.
Miglani has had 23 years of deep industry experience from Pfizer Inc, where he most recently served as Senior Director, External Medical Affairs, where he led the company’s efforts to partner with external medical, scientific and consumer organizations. He noted that Applied DNA Sciences technology offers a unique solution to help track and trace medicines globally, fight counterfeits and provide undisputed proof of origin, with CEO Hayward adding that they will put additional focus in helping companies implement new regulations such as the European Union’s mandate requiring safety features for medicine packaging to combat counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals.
With these two recent appointments, Applied DNA Sciences Inc seems poised to make a strong expansion in the energy and pharmaceuticals sector, lending a lot of potential upside for the stock. On its daily time frame, it can be seen that shares are trading between support at $2.50 and resistance around $3.50. Volume is still weak so this range bound action could continue until the recent company efforts start to bear fruit, but the path of least resistance seems to be to the upside given the latest developments.
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