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news.Pangu BioPharma, the Hong Kong subsidiary of aTyr Pharma, has been awarded a second grant by The Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) of the Hong Kong government to fund the research it is carrying out in collaboration with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
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The Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) provides matching funds during the next 18 months to expand Pangu BioPharma’s work in the identification and characterization of naturally occurring splice variants of human tRNA synthetases.
Research conducted at Pangu BioPharma and aTyr Pharma demonstrated that these naturally occurring splice variants result in resected proteins (resectins) that have functions distinct from the normal protein synthesis activities associated with tRNA synthetases.
According to Pangu BioPharma, these resectins perform a range of extracellular signaling functions essential for normal human biology, and have the potential to be used as biotherapeutics in different disease settings, including hematopoietic, immunological, inflammatory conditions and neurological disorders.
Dr James Cai, president of Pangu BioPharma, said: “Support from Hong Kong’s government and universities are important elements to attract exciting drug discovery and development companies to make Hong Kong a leader in the biotechnology industry.
“Funding from Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Commission to support efforts such as ours is proof that Hong Kong is committed to building a strong biotechnology center in China.”
Jeff Watkins, CEO of aTyr Pharma, said: “Pangu BioPharma is the model for a successful collaboration of government, university and industry partnership. With the support of HKUST and funding from the ITC, we have attracted a highly skilled group of scientists and established a well equipped lab at HKUST using the latest techniques, such as next generation sequencing.
“The intellectual property being generated by Pangu BioPharma continues to reinforce our preeminence in the field of resectin biology and their therapeutic applications.”