aTyr Pharma and its Hong Kong Subsidiary, Pangu BioPharma, Achieve Milestones for First Year of Government Grant to Develop B...
May 12 2021 - 8:00AM
aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIFE), a biotherapeutics company engaged
in the discovery and development of innovative medicines based on
novel biological pathways, today announced that the company’s Hong
Kong subsidiary, Pangu BioPharma Limited (Pangu), together with the
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), have
achieved the milestones set forth for the first year of a $750,000
grant received from the Hong Kong Government’s Innovation and
Technology Commission (ITC). The two-year project, which is in part
funded by the ITC’s Partnership Research Program (PRP), is intended
to develop a high-throughput platform for the development of
bispecific antibodies with an initial focus on diseases in which
Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) overexpression is strongly implicated,
including cancer.
Key milestones achieved for the first year of
the project included building out a highly skilled research team to
establish an innovative antibody discovery platform at HKUST. An
integral part of this project was the development and
implementation of a novel single-cell antibody discovery approach
which has so far yielded numerous candidate high-affinity
NRP2/co-receptor antibodies that are currently being screened in
functional assays. The second year of the project aims to identify
the most productive pairings, optimize mid-scale
production/purification and prioritize lead candidate bispecific
antibodies based on activity in therapeutically relevant cell-based
assays.
“We are very pleased with the progress of Pangu
and HKUST in the first year of this important project,” said Sanjay
S. Shukla, M.D., M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of
aTyr. “We continue to learn more about NRP2 as a target for
diseases, including immunology and cancer. Based on its role in
regulating inflammatory responses and interaction with various
co-receptors, we believe there are several potential options to
therapeutically target NRP2 and that bispecific antibodies present
a unique approach to create highly-specific agonists of this system
which may be therapeutically relevant in certain disease states. We
look forward to the outcome from the second year of the
project.”
Mingjie Zhang, Ph.D., Chair Professor of the
Division of Life Science and Kerry Holdings Professor of Science at
HKUST and project coordinator of the Pangu collaboration,
commented, “We are excited to have implemented this new antibody
discovery platform as part of the collaboration between Pangu and
HKUST. We look forward to utilizing the additional capabilities
related to bispecific antibody development that this platform
supports to enable us to achieve our goals in the second year of
the project.”
About NRP2
Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) is a cell surface receptor
that plays a key role in lymphatic development and in regulating
inflammatory responses. In many forms of cancer, high NRP2
expression is associated with worse outcomes. NRP2 can interact
with multiple ligands and co-receptors through distinct domains to
influence their functional roles, making it a potential drug target
with multiple distinct therapeutic applications. NRP2 interacts
with type 3 semaphorins and plexins to impact inflammation and with
forms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and their
receptors, to impact lymphangiogenesis. In addition, NRP2 modulates
interactions between CCL21 and CCR7 potentially impacting homing of
dendritic cells to lymphoid organs. aTyr is currently investigating
NRP2 receptor biology, both internally and in collaboration with
key academic thought leaders, as a novel target for new product
candidates for a variety of diseases, including cancer and
inflammation.
About aTyr
aTyr is a biotherapeutics company engaged in the
discovery and development of innovative medicines based on novel
biological pathways. 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 ATYR1923, a clinical-stage product
candidate which binds to the Neuropilin-2 receptor and is designed
to down-regulate immune engagement in inflammatory lung diseases.
For more information, please visit http://www.atyrpharma.com.
About the Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class research
university that focuses on science, technology and business as well
as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international
campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture
well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial
spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest
proportion of internationally excellent research work in the
Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants
Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in
Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2018. Its
graduates were ranked 16th worldwide and top in Greater China in
Global Employability University Survey 2018.
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 the potential therapeutic benefits and
applications of our product candidates and research programs; our
ability to successfully advance our product candidates, undertake
certain development activities (such as developing a
high-throughput platform for the development of bispecific
antibodies) and accomplish certain development goals, and the
timing of such events; the potential benefits of our research
project with HKUST; and the anticipated funding of our research
project with HKUST. 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
research and development activities for any of our existing or
future programs for a variety of reasons, the fact that our
research project with HKUST is subject to implementation of the ITC
grant, the possibility of unexpected expenses or other demands on
our cash resources, 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 most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
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 DunstonDirector, Investor
Relations and Corporate
Communicationsadunston@atyrpharma.com
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