Ambit Biosciences Appoints Kerry Kelly, J.D., as Vice President and General Counsel.

Additional New Hires and Promotions Expand Scientific and Business Development Teams

SAN DIEGO -- Ambit Biosciences today announced the appointment of Kerry Kelly, J.D., former Associate General Counsel for The Scripps Research Institute, as Vice President and General Counsel. The company also announced that it has hired Edward Shin, J.D., as Senior Director of Corporate Development; Robert Armstrong, Ph.D., as Senior Director of Pharmacology; and Mark Holladay, Ph.D., as Senior Director of Chemistry. Additionally, Ambit promoted Daniel Treiber, Ph.D., to Director of Molecular Biology and Technology Development.

"Kerry's experience in intellectual property, collaboration agreements, and corporate affairs will allow Ambit to continue to expand our position as a leader in the discovery and development of kinase inhibitors," said Scott Salka, CEO of Ambit. "Additionally, the expansion of our business development and scientific teams will support Ambit's growth both as a provider of kinase profiling services to our partners and as we advance our own kinase inhibitors into the clinic."

Kerry Kelly most recently served as Associate General Counsel for The Scripps Research Institute, supporting the institute's expansion in Florida as well as its ongoing efforts in La Jolla, California. Prior to joining Scripps, she served as General Counsel and head of corporate affairs for biotechnology company Sugen (later acquired by Pfizer), where she was responsible for business development and strategic alliances, oversight of IP, and general legal matters. Kelly previously held the position of partner in a California commercial law practice and has been practicing law in the state of California for 20 years. She received her J.D. from Santa Clara University and her B.A and M.A. from Stanford University.

"This is an exciting time to join the Ambit management team as we continue to forge partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies and prepare to begin clinical trials with our own compounds," said Kelly. "Kinase inhibitors continue to grow in importance as a drug class, especially in the treatment of cancer, and I look forward to working with Ambit in this space."

Edward Shin, J.D., Senior Director of Corporate Development, brings 15 years of legal and biotechnology experience to the Ambit team. Prior to joining Ambit, he held strategic alliance and business development positions with private biotechnology companies Affinium Pharmaceuticals and Xencor, where he negotiated deals with recognized life science companies such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Centocor and MedImmune. He has also played an active role in facilitating private financings. Shin received his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego.

Robert Armstrong, Ph.D., Senior Director of Pharmacology, has 12 years of research experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, including significant expertise in kinase inhibitors. Prior to joining Ambit, he served as Senior Director of Research at Chiron Biopharma, where he was responsible for managing the kinase target validation efforts that drove Chiron's oncology drug discovery programs. He was previously Senior Director of Cell and Molecular Biology at Idun Pharmaceuticals and Head of the Oncology Drug Discovery program prior to its acquisition by Pfizer. Armstrong has published over 30 papers and is an inventor on several issued or pending patents. He received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and conducted postdoctoral research at The Salk Institute.

Mark Holladay, Ph.D., Senior Director of Chemistry, joins Ambit from drug discovery service provider Discovery Partners International (now Infinity Pharmaceuticals), where he served as Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry and managed medicinal chemistry/lead optimization collaborations with partners. In his more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Holladay has discovered and characterized preclinical candidates, advanced product candidates into the clinic, and contributed to 25 patents and 67 research publications. He has held chemistry-related positions with Systems Integration Drug Discovery Company (SIDDCO), prior to its acquisition by Discovery Partners, and with the Pharmaceutical Products Division of Abbott Laboratories. Holladay received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Northwestern University and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin.

Daniel Treiber, Ph.D., Director of Molecular Biology and Technology Development, has been with Ambit since 2000 and has utilized his extensive experience in biochemical assay development to guide the evolution and implementation of Ambit's KinomeScan technology. Prior to joining Ambit, he was a Senior Research Associate at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. Treiber received his Ph.D. in toxicology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the department of chemistry. He received a B.A. in biology from Middlebury College.

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. Ambit plans to initiate clinical trials in 2006 for AC220, its selective class III receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor that will initially be tested in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Ambit's proprietary kinase profiling technology, KinomeScan, is designed to be integrated across all stages of the drug discovery and development process and has been validated through collaborations with Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Cephalon and others. Ambit has a strong syndicate of investors including Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund, Forward Ventures, Roche Venture Fund, Avalon Ventures, GIMV NV, MDS Capital, Genechem and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.