SAN DIEGO, Jan. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIFE), a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of Physiocrine-based therapeutics to address severe rare diseases, today announced that Sanuj Ravindran, M.D., has joined the company as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Ravindran will lead aTyr's corporate development and strategy efforts, including the planning and execution of strategic growth initiatives as the company advances its mission to make meaningful medicines for patients with serious diseases.

"As we continue to realize the promise of Physiocrines, harnessing the body's natural immune processes to develop new treatments for rare diseases, we are thrilled with the addition of Dr. Ravindran to our team," said John Mendlein, Ph.D., CEO of aTyr Pharma. "Sanuj brings valuable experience from nearly 15 years working in life sciences corporate development and investing, and will be a critical leader for aTyr Pharma in its next chapter of growth."

"I am proud to join aTyr Pharma, a promising company driven by an important mission," said Dr. Ravindran. "With its deep scientific knowledge of Physiocrine pathways and extensive patent portfolio, the company has significant potential for growth through discovering new therapeutic solutions for a broad range of severe diseases that currently have limited treatment options."

In Dr. Ravindran's most recent role as Senior Vice President and Global Head, Corporate Development at The Medicines Company, he played a key role in the company's global corporate development, strategic planning, and  business development activities for acute and intensive care medicine. Previously, Sanuj spent 10 years as a life sciences venture capital investor for Asian Healthcare Fund, Radius Ventures and Burrill & Company. Dr. Ravindran received his B.A. from Northwestern University, his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management.

About aTyr Pharma

aTyr Pharma is engaged in the discovery and clinical development of innovative medicines for patients suffering from severe rare diseases using its knowledge of Physiocrine biology, a newly discovered set of physiological modulators. The Company's lead candidate, Resolaris™, is a first-in-class intravenous protein therapeutic for the treatment of rare myopathies with an immune component. Resolaris is currently in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in adult patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD); a Phase 1b/2 trial in adult patients with limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) 2B or FSHD; and a Phase 1b/2 trial in patients with an early onset form of FSHD.  An initial trial is planned in rare pulmonary diseases with an immune component (RPIC) in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD). To protect this pipeline, aTyr built an intellectual property estate comprising 54 issued or allowed patents and over 240 pending patent applications that are solely owned or exclusively licensed by aTyr. aTyr's key programs are currently focused on severe, rare diseases characterized by immune dysregulation for which there are currently limited or no treatment options. The Company was founded by Professors Paul Schimmel, Ph.D., and Xiang-Lei Yang, Ph.D., two leading aminoacyl tRNA synthetase scientists at The Scripps Research Institute. For more information, please visit http://www.atyrpharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements we make in this press release may include statements which are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which 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, including statements regarding the potential of Resolaris, the ability of the Company to undertake certain development activities (such as clinical trial enrollment and the conduct of clinical trials) and accomplish certain development goals, and the timing of initiation of additional clinical trials and of reporting results from our clinical trials 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 those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved.  Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control including, without limitation, risks associated with the discovery, development and regulation of our Physiocrine-based product candidates, as well as those set forth in the prospectus for our recent offering of common stock and our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.  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.

SOURCE aTyr Pharma, Inc.