SAN DIEGO, May 11, 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 the promotion of Leslie Nangle, Ph.D., to Vice President, Research. Dr. Nangle will serve as a member of the company’s executive leadership team, managing research and scientific operations. Dr. Nangle has served in scientific research roles at aTyr since joining the company in 2007, including most recently as Senior Director and Head of Research.
“Dr. Nangle has been an integral part of our team and we are delighted to have her lead aTyr’s research efforts,” said Sanjay S. Shukla, M.D., M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of aTyr. “Dr. Nangle has dedicated her career to tRNA synthetase biology and the pathways they regulate, having studied under Dr. Paul Schimmel, aTyr’s Co-Founder. With her long-standing knowledge and experience in research and discovery related to this novel biology, including leading the company’s development work in Neuropilin-2 receptor biology, she is uniquely positioned to continue the exciting work that we have ongoing related to aTy’s mission to translate novel biological pathways into transformative medicines for patients.”
“I am thrilled to advance my scientific career at aTyr by leading this incredibly talented research team,” said Dr. Nangle. “I look forward to continuing the groundbreaking discovery and translational work elucidating these novel pathways that we have identified, each representing previously unexploited therapeutic intervention points. Our approach aims to target these extracellular signaling pathways related to tRNA synthetases with the most effective drug modality, focusing on monoclonal antibodies and targeted biologics. I believe aTyr’s biology platform represents a unique opportunity to develop potential new innovative therapeutics that can make a lasting impact in diseases with high unmet medical need.”
Dr. Nangle has over 20 years of experience in research dedicated to extracellular tRNA synthetases. Throughout her tenure at aTyr, she has co-developed and implemented the company’s discovery platform to generate an intellectual property estate of over 300 potential therapeutically relevant proteins and has overseen research leading to the discovery of a splice variant of histidyl-tRNA synthetase that has been shown to modulate the immune system, providing the basis of aTyr’s lead program, ATYR1923. Prior to joining aTyr, Dr. Nangle received a Ph.D. in Macromolecular Cellular Structure and Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, studying the emerging linkage between mutations in tRNA synthetases and inherited neuropathies under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Schimmel, who co-founded aTyr in 2005. Dr. Nangle received a bachelor of science in biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is co-author or co-inventor of over 75 publications and issued or pending U.S. patents.
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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
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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 our tRNA synthetase biology platform and related product candidates; timelines and plans with respect to certain development activities; 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 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 Dunston
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
[email protected]
