aTyr Pharma Inc. Using Hong Kong to Leverage Development of New Class of Biologics

ChinaBio Today -- aTyr Pharma, headquartered in San Diego, but with an additional lab in Hong Kong, is developing naturally occurring protein fragments that may be able to treat a wide variety of diseases. The fragments were discovered by Paul Schimmel, PhD, who co-founded aTyr. The impetus to establish a China connection came from Dr. Schimmel. Dr. Schimmel had also had a very positive experience with Sirtris, which had some of its pre-clinical work done in Shanghai. It wasn’t just a matter of money, according to Jeff Watkins, PhD and CEO of aTyr Pharma in an exclusive interview with ChinaBio® Today: “He found the work done there was absolutely critical to the success of Sirtris’ molecules.”