Earnings release
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aTyr aTyr Pharma Announces Second Quarter 2021 Results and Provides Corporate Update August 10 , 2021 Data from Phase 1b / 2a clinical trial of ATYR1923 in pulmonary sarcoidosis expected in mid - September 2021 . Company to host conference call and webcast today , August 10th , at 5:00 p.m. EDT / 2 : 00 p.m. PDT . SAN DIEGO , Aug. 10 , 2021 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- aTyr Pharma , Inc. ( Nasdaq : LIFE ) , a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of innovative medicines based on novel biological pathways , today announced second quarter 2021 results and provided a corporate update . " We recently completed the last subject visit in our Phase 1b / 2a proof - of - concept study of our lead therapeutic candidate , ATYR1923 , in pulmonary sarcoidosis , our initial interstitial lung disease ( ILD ) indication . We expect to report results from this important study in mid - September 2021 , " said Sanjay S. Shukla , M.D. , M.S. , President and Chief Executive Officer of aTyr . " This is a significant milestone for aTyr and the sarcoidosis community , and the upcoming readout represents a key inflection point for our ATYR1923 clinical program and tRNA synthetase biology platform . ” " The clinical proof - of - mechanism for ATYR1923 established in our Phase 2 study in COVID - 19 patients and the favorable clinical safety profile demonstrated to date , along with the pre - clinical efficacy observed in multiple translational ILD models , support the potential for ATYR1923 as a new therapeutic approach for patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis and possibly other forms of ILD . We believe ATYR1923 could potentially offer an alternative to current treatments such as steroids with improved efficacy and fewer side effects . " Second Quarter 2021 and Subsequent Period Highlights . Completed the last patient visit in a Phase 1b / 2a multiple - ascending dose , placebo - controlled study of ATYR1923 in 37 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis . Data from this study is expected in mid - September 2021 . • Hosted a key opinion leader event featuring Daniel Culver , D.O. , Chair of Pulmonary Medicine and Director of Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease at the Cleveland Clinic , who discussed limitations with the current standard of care and unmet medical need for treating patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis , including the toxicity burden of chronic steroid use and the need for better steroid sparing agents . • Kyorin Pharmaceutical , Co. , Ltd. , aTyr's partner in the development and commercialization of ATYR1923 for ILD in Japan , completed a Phase 1 study to evaluate the safety , pharmacokinetics ( PK ) and immunogenicity of ATYR1923 ( known as KRP - R120 in Japan ) in 32 healthy Japanese volunteers . ATYR1923 was observed to be generally safe and well - tolerated with no drug - related serious adverse events and PK findings were consistent with previous studies of ATYR1923 . • Announced that two abstracts for ATYR1923 were accepted for presentation at the 2021 European Respiratory Society ( ERS ) International Congress to be held virtually September 5 - 8. The abstracts present research demonstrating the ability of a splice variant of histidyl - tRNA synthetase , the active portion of ATYR1923 , to disrupt sarcoid granuloma formation in vitro and findings that ATYR1923 treatment reduces biomarkers in COVID - 19 pneumonia patients . • Expanded its research collaboration with The Ohio State University ( OSU ) to deepen the understanding of the immune mechanisms of sarcoid granuloma formation and identify potential biomarkers of efficacy for ATYR1923 for pulmonary sarcoidosis . Dr. Elliott Crouser , Professor of Pulmonology , Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at OSU , will serve as principal investigator . The collaboration builds upon the successful pilot proof - of - concept study conducted with Dr. Crouser , including findings that were accepted for presentation at ERS . • Received a patent grant from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covering methods for the use of histidyl - tRNA synthetase Fc fusion proteins for reducing inflammatory response in the lung . The patent , U.S. Patent No. 11,072,787 entitled , " Histidyl - tRNA synthetase - FC conjugates , " covers the use of the company's lead therapeutic candidate , ATYR1923 , for reducing inflammatory response in the lung . • Strengthened its board of directors with the appointment of Sara Zaknoen , M.D. , a highly accomplished drug development and clinical research executive . Dr. Zaknoen is a hematologist / oncologist who has previously held Chief Medical Officer positions at several biotech companies . • Presented preclinical research in a poster at the Keystone Symposia Cancer Stem Cells : Advances in Biology and Clinical Translation highlighting mechanistic insights into the tumor inhibitory effects of ATYR2810 , the company's lead anti - Neuropilin - 2 ( NRP2 ) / VEGF antibody and IND candidate . ATYR2810 selectively blocks the NRP2 / VEGFR signaling axis and was shown to sensitize triple - negative breast cancer models to chemotherapy and downregulate several key epithelial- mesenchymal transition regulatory genes .