AMBIT BIOSCIENCES ANNOUNCES TRANSITION IN COMPANY LEADERSHIP
Growing Biotechnology Company Appoints Industry Veteran Dr Alan Lewis as CEO
San Diego, CA July 26, 2010 - Ambit Biosciences
Corporation (Ambit), a recognized global leader in kinase drug
discovery and development, announced today that its Board of
Directors has completed a thorough executive search and appointed
Alan J. Lewis, Ph.D. as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of the Company. Dr. Lewis has been serving as Executive Chairman of
Ambit since March 2010, and will now be responsible for the daily
operations of the Company as CEO.
“As Executive Chairman, Alan has made a tremendous impact in guiding
the vision and creating the foundation for the Company’s future
growth,” said Steven Elms, managing partner of Aisling Capital, on
behalf of Ambit’s Board of Directors. “With more than 30 years
industry experience, Alan has a proven track record and brings the
business, technical and leadership skills necessary to create value
as Ambit advances its promising portfolio through development. This
is a pivotal time for the organization and the Board is confident
that with Alan’s guidance Ambit will emerge a leader in the
biotechnology industry.”
Dr. Lewis commented, “Ambit has developed a truly unique approach to
kinase drug discovery, and as a result the Company is advancing a
deep pool of promising kinase inhibitors for the treatment of
oncology, immune and inflammatory diseases with significant unmet
medical need. A major milestone and validation of the Company’s
approach was the strategic partnership completed in December 2009
with Astellas Pharma to jointly develop and commercialize FLT3
kinase inhibitors, including the Company’s lead compound, AC220.
This molecule is in a pivotal Phase 2 study in AML and could be a
game-changing therapy in this disease if ongoing trials produce
positive results. This is a truly exciting time to head the Ambit
organization, and I look forward to leading this talented team in
the next phase of the Company’s growth.”
Dr. Lewis most recently served as President and CEO of the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the leading charitable funder
and advocate of type 1 diabetes research worldwide. Prior to JDRF,
Dr. Lewis was President and CEO of Novocell where he contributed
significantly to achieving the Company’s leadership position in
developing stem cell technologies for the treatment of diabetes.
Previously, Dr. Lewis served as CEO and Director of Signal
Pharmaceuticals, an early pioneer in kinase drug discovery, which he
guided through a successful acquisition by Celgene in 2000 and went
on to become President of the Signal Research Division at Celgene.
Dr. Lewis previously held the position of Vice President of Research
at Wyeth-Ayerst, where he spent 15 years leading research efforts in
diabetes, CNS, cardiovascular, inflammatory, allergy and bone
metabolism diseases. Dr. Lewis received a B.Sc. in Physiology and
Biochemistry from Southampton University, a Ph.D. in Pharmacology
from the University of Wales, and completed his postdoctoral
fellowship at Yale University.
About Ambit Biosciences
Ambit Biosciences is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company
engaged in the discovery and development of small molecule kinase
inhibitors for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory disease, and
other indications. Ambit employs a novel and proprietary kinase
profiling technology, KINOMEscan™, to screen compounds against 442
human kinases.
Ambit's lead compound, AC220, is a novel, potent, highly selective,
orally bioavailable second-generation FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3
(FLT3) inhibitor. Clinical development of AC220 is currently
underway in a Phase 2 pivotal study in patients with relapsed or
refractory AML. Ambit is developing AC220 in collaboration with
Astellas Pharma Inc. as part of a worldwide agreement to jointly
develop and commercialize FLT3 kinase inhibitors in oncology and
non-oncology indications.
In addition to AC220, Ambit's clinical pipeline includes AC480, an
oral pan-HER inhibitor that was in-licensed from Bristol-Myers
Squibb. Ambit is conducting clinical studies with AC480 in patients
with solid tumor cancers. Additionally, Ambit has an advancing pool
of preclinical candidates targeting BRAF (in collaboration with
Cephalon), JAK2, Aurora, and CSF1R. Through its KINOMEscan Division,
Ambit markets its technology as a profiling service. For more
information, visit www.ambitbio.com.
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SOURCE: Ambit Biosciences
Corporation. |
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