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San Diego, CA, October 14th, 2009 - aTyr Pharma announced today that Dr. Floyd Bloom Professor Emeritus, Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department at The Scripps Research Institute, has joined their scientific advisory board. A widely acknowledged leader in the field of neurosciences, Dr. Bloom has been recognized with many honors, including elected membership to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Philosophical Society and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science. With over 400 scientific publications to his name, Dr. Bloom brings rigorous and extensive scientific experience in understanding the biology and impact of drugs on human diseases. This scientific expertise and perspective will be extremely valuable to aTyr Pharma's novel class of biotherapeutics being discovered and developed to treat a wide variety of diseases, including neurological disorders. Based on an entirely new class of naturally occurring proteins, the aTyr Pharma drug pipeline consists of proteins hidden in the aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. Key enzymes in protein synthesis, aminoacyl tRNA synthetases have recently been shown to have resected forms arising from splice variations or proteolysis, known as resectins. These resectins have distinct functions not related to protein synthesis that can be exploited for development as biotherapeutics.

According to Jeff Watkins, Ph. D. and CEO of aTyr Pharma , "Developing a new class of biologics with applications in a number of therapeutic areas such as inflammation, cardiovascular, hematology, neurology and metabolism requires deep knowledge in particular disease areas. Dr. Bloom is the consummate scientist in the field of neurobiology, and has shown ability to translate that knowledge into human therapies by his founding and role as CEO at Neurome. We are thrilled to be able to apply his knowledge and expertise to our understanding of resectin biology."

Professor Paul Schimmel, co-founder of aTyr Pharma , fellow National Academy member and Professor at the Scripps Research Institute added, "I have known, respected and admired Dr. Bloom's integrity and scientific excellence for decades. Dr. Bloom's unparalleled expertise brings additional scientific authority to what was already a world class scientific advisory board at aTyr Pharma . Dr. Bloom's influence and guidance, will help us accelerate our understanding and development of aTyr Pharma's novel class of therapeutic proteins."

About Dr. Bloom
After receiving an A. B., cum laude, from Southern Methodist University, Dr. Bloom went on to receive his M. D. cum laude from the Washington university School of Medicine before completing a residency and internship at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital. His scientific career has led to a number of key leadership positions such as Director of Behavioral Neurobiology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Chief of the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health, Chair Emeritus of the Department of Neuropharmacology at The Scripps Research Institute. Awards and recognition of his scientific skills and contributions to society include 6 honorary doctorates, the Pasarow Award in Neuropsychiatry, the Hermann van Helmholz Award, the Sarnat Award for Mental Health Research and his election to prestigious societies such as the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Philosophical Society and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science. Demonstrating a broad commitment to the advancement of science, Dr. Bloom has been the editor-in-chief of Science, arguably one of the highest impact scientific journals in the world, and has also served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. One of the most influential scientists in the world, Dr. Bloom has authored or co-authored over 400 research articles, 29 monographs, over 250 solicited reviews and articles, over 50 editorials and over 300 abstracts.

About aTyr Pharma
aTyr Pharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery of an entirely new class of biologics.  aTyr Pharma’s discovery engine for new biotherapeutics consists of novel proteins in the family of tRNA synthetases with cell signaling activities distinct from the protein synthesis activities commonly associated with the tRNA synthetases. These resected proteins, or “resectins”, are being developed as novel therapeutics to treat hematological disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders.

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