ATYR

Atyr Pharma, Inc.

A San Diego biotech developing medicines from tRNA synthetases, the enzymes best known for building proteins inside cells. Its lead drug candidate, efzofitimod, targets fibrosis and inflammation, such as scarring of the lungs. Founded in 2005 by scientists Paul Schimmel and Xiang-Lei Yang, it grew out of their discovery that these enzymes also act outside cells as signaling molecules — a twist that gives the company its name, taken from tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase.