aTyr Pharma Announces the Appointment of Eric Benevich to its Board of Directors

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATYR) (“aTyr” or the “Company”), a clinical stage biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of first-in-class medicines from its proprietary tRNA synthetase platform, today announced the appointment of Eric Benevich to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective as of December 10, 2024. Mr. Benevich currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer at Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Neurocrine).

“We are excited to welcome Eric Benevich to the Board of Directors,” said Timothy P. Coughlin, Chairman of the Board of aTyr. “His extensive background bringing new products to market and the knowledge and expertise he has gained from both building and leading commercial activities at biopharmaceutical companies will be an invaluable resource as aTyr continues its evolution towards commercialization.”

Mr. Benevich has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Neurocrine since May 2015 and is responsible for all aspects of commercial development, marketing, and sales of the Neurocrine product portfolio. Mr. Benevich has over 30 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical industry and previously served in various positions of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca, Amgen, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, and Avanir Pharmaceuticals in the sales and marketing of drugs such as Prilosec®, Epogen®, Enbrel®, and Neudexta®. Mr. Benevich has a BBA in International Business from Washington State University.

About aTyr

aTyr is a clinical stage biotechnology company leveraging evolutionary intelligence to translate tRNA synthetase biology into new therapies for fibrosis and inflammation. tRNA synthetases are ancient, essential proteins that have evolved novel domains that regulate diverse pathways extracellularly in humans. aTyr’s discovery platform is focused on unlocking hidden therapeutic intervention points by uncovering signaling pathways driven by its proprietary library of domains derived from all 20 tRNA synthetases. aTyr’s lead therapeutic candidate is efzofitimod, a first-in-class biologic immunomodulator in clinical development for the treatment of interstitial lung disease, a group of immune-mediated disorders that can cause inflammation and progressive fibrosis, or scarring, of the lungs. For more information, please visit www.atyrpharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements 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 include statements regarding the potential benefits that Mr. Benevich’s appointment will have on aTyr’s evolution towards commercialization. These forward-looking statements also 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 these forward-looking statements, are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. All forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions by our management that, although we believe to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control including, without limitation, uncertainty regarding geopolitical and macroeconomic events, risks associated with the discovery, development and regulation of our product candidates, the risk that we or our partners may cease or delay preclinical or clinical development activities for any of our existing or future product candidates for a variety of reasons (including difficulties or delays in patient enrollment in planned clinical trials), the possibility that existing collaborations could be terminated early, and the risk that we may not be able to raise the additional funding required for our business and product development plans, as well as those risks set forth in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our other SEC filings. 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.

Contact:
Ashlee Dunston
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
adunston@atyrpharma.com