Dr. James Cai Joins aTyr Pharma to Drive Clinical Development in Asia

Former AstraZeneca Exec to Lead Hong Kong-based subsidiary Pangu BioPharma

SAN DIEGO, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- aTyr Pharma, a privately held
biopharmaceutical company focused on discovery and development of an entirely
new class of natural protein therapeutics (biologics) for multiple disease
indications, today announced that Dr. James Cai has joined the Company as
Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at aTyr Pharma and President of
Pangu BioPharma, a fully owned aTyr Pharma subsidiary in Hong Kong.

With over a decade of experience developing and leading research and
development in Asia for leading pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Cai's industry
and regional expertise will position both aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma to
fully take advantage of the unique growth opportunities of Asia. Most
recently, Dr. Cai was Vice President of Research and Development at
AstraZeneca China. In this role he established the Research and Development
organization in China and was responsible for Clinical Research,
Medical-Marketing, Regulatory Affairs, Patient Safety and Business
Development. During his tenure, the team launched Iressa and Crestor, with
$265 M and $3.6 B in global annual sales respectively

"We are thrilled to have Dr. James Cai join aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma as
a key member of our management team," said Dr. Jeff Watkins, CEO of aTyr
Pharma. "His many years of hands on clinical development, paired with deep
relationships in Asia and a proven ability to drive drug discovery forward in
the region make Dr. Cai perfectly suited for his role as the leader of our
subsidiary Pangu BioPharma."

Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Dr. Cai was External Affairs and HIV Franchise
Director at Merck Sharp & Dohme China and Medical Director at Pfizer. Dr. Cai
graduated from Columbia University with Executive MBA, and trained as
physician and clinical researcher from Shanghai Second Medical University and
New York University, respectively. Dr. Cai is based in Shanghai, where he has
opened an office for aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma.

aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma are discovering novel, naturally occurring
protein fragments that can be developed into biologic agents for treating a
wide variety of diseases. Capitalizing on the years of experience and
discoveries made by founder Prof. Paul Schimmel, aTyr Pharma and Pangu
BioPharma are identifying a broad platform of protein fragments derived from
human aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. In his decades of research at MIT and now
The Scripps Research Institute, Prof. Schimmel, has been a leader in
discovering the many activities, roles and functions for this ancient class of
enzymes and reported the first evidence that fragments and splice variants of
these proteins have latent extracellular activities distinct from their
intracellular roles in protein synthesis. With a wide variety of cell
signaling activities, this class of unexplored peptides provides a reservoir
of proteins with the potential to become blockbuster biotherapeutics
("Biologics").

"We are developing an entire new class of biologics, and China is a critical
component of our strategy at aTyr," said Dr. Schimmel. "Similar to our
efforts at Sirtris Pharma, which was sold to Glaxo Smith Kline for $720M in
2008, we will leverage operations in Hong Kong to effectively and efficiently
discover and characterize new compositions. Basing Pangu BioPharma at the
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) ensures that we have
access to the best trained talent and can more easily recruit leading
scientists to our program."

"I am extremely pleased to be joining aTyr Pharma and Pangu BioPharma where
the passion, innovation and cutting edge science inspire me," said Dr. Cai.
"I look forward to leveraging my expertise and building upon the success of
aTyr here in Asia through Pangu BioPharma."

About aTyr Pharma, Inc.
aTyr Pharma is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on
identifying and developing a novel class of naturally occurring protein
biologics for therapeutic application. aTyr's research facility is
headquartered in San Diego, California, with offices in Hong Kong and
Shanghai.

www.atyrpharma.com

SOURCE aTyr Pharma

Cheryl Quinn, Director of Business Development of aTyr Pharma,
+1-858-731-8390, cquinn@atyrpharma.com; or Media, Jennifer James of Alta
Partners, +1-415-362-4022, jjames@altapartners.com, for aTyr Pharma