aTyr Pharma Announces the Appointment of Dalia R. Rayes as Head of Commercial, Global Efzofitimod Franchise

SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2025 (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 Dalia R. Rayes as Head of Commercial, Global Efzofitimod Franchise. Ms. Rayes brings over 25 years of experience building and leading commercial organizations at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including leading rare disease product launches. She will serve as a member of the Company's executive leadership team, overseeing global commercial strategy and operations for the efzofitimod program in interstitial lung disease (ILD), including its lead indication in pulmonary sarcoidosis.

"We are pleased to welcome Dalia to the company in advance of the upcoming readout for our Phase 3 EFZO-FIT™ study of efzofitimod in pulmonary sarcoidosis, which is expected in the third quarter of this year," said Sanjay S. Shukla, M.D., M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of aTyr. "Her extensive experience commercializing products across multiple rare disease franchises, including respiratory and steroid reducing products, along with having led companies through their first product launch make her uniquely qualified to help advance efzofitimod toward potentially being the first new treatment approved for patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis in more than 70 years."

"I am excited to join aTyr at this pivotal time and lead the effort to transform the company into a commercial stage organization, where there is an opportunity to build a multi-billion dollar franchise in pulmonary sarcoidosis and other forms of ILD," said Ms. Rayes. "Having served as a strategic advisor to the company throughout the past year, I've had the opportunity to closely collaborate with the team and see the strong foundation already in place. I look forward to shaping the commercial strategies and helping to potentially deliver this important therapy to patients in need."

Ms. Rayes most recently served as Senior Vice President, Head of Commercial for ChemoCentryx, Inc., where she developed and implemented the commercial strategy for the launch of their first product TAVNEOS^® ahead of their subsequent acquisition by Amgen. Previously, she spent more than a decade working for Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd., where she held key commercial leadership roles across several franchises ahead of their acquisition by Johnson & Johnson. As Senior Director, Business Unit Lead, she launched and scaled the rare disease franchise for VALCHLOR^®, and earlier helped lead the blockbuster U.S. launch of OPSUMIT^® within the pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) portfolio. She began her career at Algorithm Pharmaceuticals, overseeing product launches across 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Ms. Rayes holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Beirut Arab University and an MBA from Lebanese American University.

In connection with Ms. Rayes's appointment, the Compensation Committee of aTyr's Board of Directors granted Ms. Rayes an option to purchase 225,000 shares of aTyr's common stock with an exercise price of $3.49 per share, which is equal to the closing price per share of aTyr's common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market as of March 25, 2025, the effective date of the grant and the start date of Ms. Rayes's employment. The option is a non-qualified stock option and vests over a period of four years, with 25% vesting on the one year anniversary of the grant date and the remaining 75% vesting on a monthly basis over three years, subject to Ms. Rayes's continuous employment through each vesting date. This award was granted as an inducement material to Ms. Rayes's entering into employment with aTyr in accordance with Nasdaq Stock Market Rule 5635(c)(4).

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," "potential," "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 potential therapeutic benefits and applications of efzofitimod; the size of the potential addressable market of pulmonary sarcoidosis and other forms of ILD; timelines and plans with respect to certain development activities (including the further development, approval and commercialization of efzofitimod and the timing of clinical trials and data releases including the EFZO-FIT™ study); the roles we expect Ms. Rayes to perform and her potential impact; and certain development goals. 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

Sr. Director, Investor Relations and Public Affairs

[email protected]