aTyr Pharma, a protein therapeutics enterprise, announced the close of $10 million debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank to support the clinical development of aTyr’s first therapeutic program to treat rare autoimmune diseases and a rare disease pipeline in immune disorders.

“In conjunction with our Series D financing, this loan provides additional funding as we translate Physiocrine biology into a new class of protein therapeutics to treat many different types of immune disorders,” said John Mendlein, Ph.D., CEO and executive chairman of aTyr Pharma.

“We’re proud to be a partner of aTyr Pharma, offering the added flexibility the company needs to pursue its meaningful goals,” said Mike White, managing director in life sciences for Silicon Valley Bank in San Diego. “Working with life sciences companies like aTyr, which are in pursuit of innovations that will directly impact the quality of people’s lives, is inspiring and rewarding.”

Physiocrines act as extracellular signaling molecules to orchestrate cellular homeostasis in response to stress. Physiocrines are naturally occurring proteins derived from tRNA synthetases that play fundamental roles in the function of human physiology and the resolution of inflammation.

aTyr Therapeutics plans to build a pipeline of innovative therapeutic products based on Physiocrine biology. aTyr’s key programs are currently focused on rare immunomodulation disorders in the areas of inflammation and auto-immunity.