aTyr Pharma Completes First Phase 1 Study For Rare Disease Program First Demonstration of Safety and Tolerability of Physiocrines

SAN DIEGO – May 21, 2014 – aTyr Pharma, an innovative rare disease therapeutics enterprise, announced today completion of Phase 1 for its lead program, Resokine IV.  Our study, which marked the first ever administration of a Physiocrine to humans, was conducted in healthy male and female subjects in the European Union to assess the safety and tolerability of Resokine IV.  aTyr Pharma is developing Resokine IV as a potential therapeutic for rare immune disorders.  This study advances a range of therapeutic programs to treat rare immune-imbalanced diseases and develop a rare disease pipeline in immunology.

The Phase 1 study was a double blinded, placebo-controlled, trial demonstrating that Resokine IV was well tolerated and safe at all doses tested.  No serious adverse effects were observed.  The data from 32 healthy subjects in four dose cohorts supports the basic premise of Resokine IV as an immuno-modulator rather than a classic interleukin or interferon with systemic immuno-stimulating properties upon administration.

“Our first clinical study represents an important milestone for aTyr, further validating the use of human Physiocrine proteins as therapeutics,” said John Mendlein, Ph.D., CEO and executive chairman of aTyr Pharma.  “We discovered the Resokine pathway in animal studies and in normal and disease subjects.  Our new clinical data now supports the development of Resokine IV in rare disease patients with dysregulated immune systems and brings those patients one step closer to immuno-homeostasis.”

About Physiocrines
Physiocrines act as extracellular signaling molecules to orchestrate immuno-homeostasis in response to various forms of stress. Physiocrines are naturally occurring proteins derived from tRNA synthetases that play fundamental roles in human physiology and restoring pathophysiological states to a healthier state. As endogenous modulators of our immune system, Physiocrines offer the opportunity for modulating biological pathways through newly discovered naturally occurring mechanisms, many of which have multiple therapeutic advantages, including improved selectivity, efficacy and reduced side effect profiles compared to many existing therapeutics.

About aTyr Pharma
aTyr Pharma has developed an extensive pipeline of therapeutic products based on Physiocrine biology. aTyr has built a dominant intellectual property estate to protect the core therapeutics, as well as associated diagnostics. aTyr’s key programs are currently focused on rare disorders that result in immune dysregulation. These diseases include autoimmune disorders and are serious, potentially life threatening conditions, for which there are currently no effective, safe, long term treatments. The privately held biotech company was founded by The Scripps Research Institute Professor Paul Schimmel, a leading aminoacyl tRNA synthetase scientist, and is backed by top life sciences investors Alta Partners, Cardinal Partners, Domain Associates and Polaris Partners. For more information, please visit http://www.atyrpharma.com.