MEDIA RELEASE PR36035
Fifteenth US Patent Issued for aTyr Pharma Novel Biotherapeutic
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
aTyr Pharma's Resectins are New Product Class
aTyr Pharma announced today that the US Patent office has issued patent
US 7,572,452 B2, titled "Method for Stimulating Wound Healing." aTyr Pharma
is the sole assignee of this patent, and Professor Sunghoon Kim, a scientific
co-founder of aTyr Pharma, is the inventor. An example of aTyr Pharma's broad
intellectual property portfolio and the fifteenth filed patent related to
aTyr Pharma's work in tRNA synthetases, this patent covers new extracellular
activities for p43, a critical protein component of the multi-aminoacyl tRNA
synthetase complex in humans. The aminoacyl tRNA synthetases are universal
and essential elements of the protein synthesis machinery found in all
organisms, but human synthetases and their associated proteins have naturally
occurring resected variants, called "resectins," with potent cell signaling
activities that are vital to normal functioning of humans. The resectins'
activities are distinct from the protein synthesis activities commonly known
for synthetases, and aTyr Pharma is discovering and developing the resectins
as new biotherapeutic agents that can be used to treat a wide variety of
human diseases including inflammatory, autoimmune, hematopoietic and
metabolic disorders.
Jeff Watkins, CEO of aTyr Pharma, had this to say about the patent: "This
patent covers discoveries Professor Kim has made for extracellular activity
of the p43 component of the multi-sythetase complex. As part of aTyr Pharma's
portfolio, this patent helps establish our dominant ownership and leadership
in the resectin space. Capitalizing on this new area of biology, we are
identifying and developing these naturally occurring resectins as candidate
biotherapeutics for treating a wide variety of diseases."
Professor Kim, of Seoul National University in Korea, has had a long
scientific relationship with Professor Paul Schimmel of The Scripps Research
Institute and a co-founder of aTyr Pharma. According to Professor Schimmel,
"Professor Kim's research has really helped build our understanding of how
far-reaching the non-canonical functions are for naturally occurring
resectins of tRNA synthetases and their associated proteins. This newly
issued patent highlights the innovation surrounding the discovery and
development of tRNA synthetase resectins as biotherapeutics." Professors
Schimmel and Kim recently co-authored a scientific article in the Proceedings
of the Natural Academy of Sciences (PNAS USA, 2008, vol. 105: 11043-11409)
describing many of the newly emerging functions of tRNA synthetases and the
relationships to human medicine.
Link to the PNAS review article:
About aTyr Pharma
aTyr Pharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery
and development of an entirely new class of biologics. aTyr Pharma's
discovery engine for new biotherapeutics consists of novel proteins in the
family of tRNA synthetases with cell signaling activities distinct from the
protein synthesis activities commonly associated with the tRNA synthetases.
These resected proteins, or "resectins," are being developed as novel
therapeutics to treat hematological disorders, neurodegenerative diseases,
inflammation, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders.
SOURCE: aTyr Pharma, Inc.
CONTACT: Cheryl Quinn,
Director of Business Development of aTyr Pharma,
+1-858-731-8390,
cquinn@atyrpharma.com;
or Media,
Jennifer James of Alta Partners,
+1-415-362-4022,
jjames@altapartners.com,
for aTyr Pharma, Inc.
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