ATyr Pharma: FDA Accepts IND Application On Phase 2 Study For COVID-19; Stock Up

(RTTNews) - aTyr Pharma Inc. (LIFE) said Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted its Investigational New Drug or IND application to evaluate its lead therapeutic candidate, ATYR1923, in a Phase 2 study in COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory complications.

In Tuesday pre-market trade, LIFE is trading at $4.02 up $0.93 or 30.10 percent.

The company believes there is strong scientific rationale for the development of ATYR1923 to treat COVID-19 patients

Many COVID-19 patients with severe disease experience serious, sometimes fatal, respiratory complications caused by an excessive inflammatory response in the lung, primarily driven by T-cells.

The inflammatory lung injury related to COVID-19 may be similar to that of interstitial lung diseases, or ILDs, for which ATYR1923 is currently being investigated.

The company noted that the phase 2 clinical trial will be a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study with ATYR1923 in 30 confirmed COVID-19 positive patients at up to 10 centers in the United States.