"aTyr Pharma to Present at ChinaBio (R) Investor Forum in Hong Kong | AboutHK.Com - more information about HK"

aTyr Pharma, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing a completely new class of natural protein therapeutics (biologics) for several indications, announced today that it's ChinaBio (R) Investor Forum in Hong Kong on 19 March 2009. Dr. James Cai, Senior Vice President of clinical development and pharmaceutical aTyr President of the Hong Kong subsidiary Pangu BioPharma, gives an overview of aTyr the discovery and development program in the afternoon on Thursday, 19 March. The event will take place at the Hong Kong Science Park (http://www.chinabiollc.com/events/CBIF2009-HK/overview).

"aTyr Pharma and its Hong Kong subsidiary, Pangu BioPharma, are exactly the kind of companies we are looking to participate in our events," said Greg Scott, president and founder of ChinaBio GmbH, organizer of the ChinaBio (R) Investor Forum. "aTyr platform is deeply rooted in the new science and Pangu utilizes the best from China and Hong Kong about his research here. We expect that aTyr is very attractive for more than 50 VCs at the Investor Forum."

aTyr has successfully passed the Series A and Series B funding from leading U.S. venture capital firms, including Alta Partners, Cardinal Partners and Polaris Venture Partners. In addition to supporting the company's discovery platform efforts aTyr management team is also preparing for the preclinical development and Phase I trials for the first biologics drug.

aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma have a new platform from naturally occurring protein fragments that can be developed into biological substances for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Capital over the years of experiences and discoveries, the founder of Prof. Paul Schimmel, aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma are investigating a broad platform of protein fragments from a human aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. In his decades of research at MIT and now The Scripps Research Institute, Professor Schimmel, is a leader in the discovery of the many activities, roles and functions for the old class of enzymes and reported the first evidence that fragments and splice variants these proteins have latent extracellular activities of their role in intracellular protein synthesis. With a multitude of cell signaling activities of this class of peptides offers an unexplored reservoir of proteins with the potential for blockbuster biotherapeutics ( "biologics").

Dr. Cai pointed out that "Investors ChinaBio forum offers a uniquely valuable platform for the leading biotech companies, the China / Asia Biotech Community on the international stage. It is a highly motivating opportunity for me, so that the investment groups opportunity to share in the forefront of science, while a genuinely novel ultimately works for a better medication for the global groups of patients. "