SAN DIEGO, Dec. 16, 2015 /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 the Company has been selected for addition to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index^® (Nasdaq: NBI). The annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index becomes effective at market open on Monday, December 21, 2015.

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is designed to track the performance of a set of securities listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® (NASDAQ®) that are classified as either biotechnology or pharmaceutical according to the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB). The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is calculated under a modified capitalization-weighted methodology and ranked on an annual basis. All securities in the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index are listed on the NASDAQ Global Market or the NASDAQ Global Select Market, and meet certain eligibility requirements. For more information about the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, including eligibility criteria, visit www.nasdaq.com.

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 FSHD; a Phase 1b/2 trial in adult patients with LGMD2B 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 45 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.

SOURCE aTyr Pharma