Ambit Biosciences Raises $31 Million in Series C Financing.

SAN DIEGO -- Ambit Biosciences today announced the final close of its Series C financing, which raised a total of $31 million in private equity for the company. The initial close of the round in August 2004 raised $21 million, with an additional $10 million secured in the final close. The funding will be devoted to advancing the company's small molecule product candidates into clinical trials.

"This financing provides Ambit with the necessary resources to conduct clinical trials with our small molecule drug candidates for the treatment of CNS disorders and cancer," said Scott Salka, CEO of Ambit. "We anticipate that our small molecule neuroprotectant for the treatment of stroke and other CNS disorders will enter the clinic in 2006, followed closely by the first of our small molecule kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer."

The Series C financing was led by Roche Venture Fund and included participation from all of Ambit's existing investors, including Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund, Forward Ventures, GIMV, Avalon Ventures and various individual investors. New investors Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund Inc. (advised by MDS Capital Corp.) and Genechem also joined the round. Additionally, Roche entered into a collaboration with Ambit concurrent with the initial close of the round for access to Ambit's proprietary kinase profiling technology. Ambit has also secured drug discovery collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.

"Ambit is an attractive investment for Roche because their promising preclinical compounds and clear clinical development pathway provide a solid basis for creating value," said Carole Nuechterlein, Head of the Roche Venture Fund.

"Ambit's market-leading kinase profiling technology efficiently provides quantitative data demonstrating how potential drug candidates interact with nearly 200 kinases," added Nandini Tandon, Ph.D., Venture Partner with MDS Capital. "The resulting ability to profile, optimize and select potential new drugs provides a competitive edge that benefits both Ambit and its partners."

As a result of the financing, Nandini Tandon, Ph.D., Venture Partner with MDS Capital, and Elizabeth Douville, Ph.D., Vice President of Genechem, will join Ambit's Board of Directors.

About Ambit Biosciences

Ambit Biosciences is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule neuroprotectants for the treatment of stroke and other CNS disorders and kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and inflammation. Ambit plans to initiate clinical trials for stroke and oncology in 2006. Ambit's proprietary technology, which has been validated through collaborations with Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer provides an unprecedented ability to identify, characterize, and quantify protein-small molecule interactions. Ambit has raised a total of more than $50 million from investors including Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund, Forward Ventures, Roche Venture Fund, Avalon Ventures, GIMV NV, MDS Capital and Genechem.

About the Roche Venture Fund

The Roche Venture Fund invests in early stage biotech and diagnostics companies to support innovative technologies and medicines. Based in Basel, Switzerland, the Roche Venture Fund invests globally with a portfolio of over 25 companies in 10 countries.

About Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund Inc.

Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund Inc. (www.cmdf.com) is Canada's largest and most mature health sciences labour-sponsored venture capital fund, with approximately $270 million in managed assets. Established in 1994 and available across Canada, CMDF has venture capital investments in over 50 companies involved in health sciences, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, health care delivery services and drug discovery and development. CMDF is advised by MDS Capital with selections and management of its investments.

About MDS Capital Corp.

MDS Capital Corp. and affiliates, with approximately $1 billion under management, is a leading North American venture capital company focused exclusively on providing financial support and other services to help build emerging life science companies. The company provides a continuum of capital, from early through later stages, by raising capital in public retail and private institutional funds. Additional information about MDS Capital Corp. is available at www.mdscapital.com.

MDS Capital Corp operates in a strategic relationship with MDS Inc. MDS Inc. has more than 9,000 highly skilled people in 25 countries. The company provides a diverse range of superior products and services to increase their customers' speed, precision and productivity in the drug development and disease diagnosis processes. MDS Inc. is a global, values-driven health and life sciences company, recognized for their reliability and collaborative relationships as they help create better outcomes in the treatment of disease.