aTyr Pharma Announces Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent for Anti-Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) Monoclonal Antibodies

Compositions and methods patent covers antibodies targeting NRP2 which may have therapeutic applications in the areas of cancer and inflammation

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIFE), a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of first-in-class medicines from its proprietary tRNA synthetase platform, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has provided a Notice of Allowance for a patent covering methods for the use of anti-neuropilin-2 (NRP2) antibodies. The patent application No. 16/376,979 titled, “Compositions and methods comprising anti-NRP2 antibodies,” covers the use of a series of antibodies targeting NRP2 for differentiated therapeutic applications in the areas of cancer and inflammation.

NRP2 is a cell surface receptor that plays multiple roles in neurodevelopment, maintaining cellular plasticity, cell migration, lymphatic development and regulating inflammatory responses in normal physiology. The blocking antibodies that aTyr has developed target distinct domains of NRP2, including those interacting with semaphorins, VEGF and certain chemokines.

“We are pleased with the USPTO Notice of Allowance for this patent covering compositions and methods comprising anti-NRP2 antibodies, including our investigational new drug (IND) candidate ATYR2810, which is the first patent to be granted to our intellectual property estate for this program,” said Sanjay S. Shukla, M.D., M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of aTyr.

A Notice of Allowance is issued after the USPTO makes the determination that a patent should be granted from an application. A patent from the recently allowed application is expected to be issued in the coming months.

aTyr’s global patent estate includes over 220 issued or allowed patents owned or exclusively licensed by aTyr and its Hong Kong subsidiary, Pangu BioPharma Limited, developed over a decade of research and development activities. This patent estate highlights aTyr’s unique leadership position in this emerging area of biology. These patents encompassed important new therapeutic modalities which underpin the broad pipeline of novel therapeutics in active development at the company.

About aTyr

aTyr is a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of first-in-class medicines from its proprietary tRNA synthetase platform. aTyr’s research and development efforts are concentrated on a newly discovered area of biology, the extracellular functionality and signaling pathways of tRNA synthetases. aTyr has built a global intellectual property estate directed to a potential pipeline of protein compositions derived from 20 tRNA synthetase genes and their extracellular targets. aTyr’s primary focus is efzofitimod, a clinical-stage product candidate which binds to the neuropilin-2 receptor and is designed to downregulate immune engagement in fibrotic lung disease. For more information, please visit www.atyrpharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are usually identified by the use of words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” and variations of such words or similar expressions. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by such safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements and are making this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor provisions. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding potential therapeutic benefits and applications of ATYR2810; timelines and plans with respect to certain development activities, including the timing of clinical trials; and certain development goals. These forward-looking statements also reflect our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects, which are based on the information currently available to us and on assumptions we have made. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects, as reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements, are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. All forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions by our management that, although we believe to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control including, without limitation, uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, risks associated with the discovery, development and regulation of our product candidates, the risk that we or our partners may cease or delay preclinical or clinical development activities for any of our existing or future product candidates for a variety of reasons (including difficulties or delays in patient enrollment in planned clinical trials), the possibility that existing collaborations could be terminated early, and the risk that we may not be able to raise the additional funding required for our business and product development plans, as well as those risks set forth in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 filed with the SEC on August 15, 2022, and in our other SEC filings. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact:
Ashlee Dunston
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
adunston@atyrpharma.com