What Ambit Biosciences does

Ambit Biosciences was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Diego, California, that developed small molecule kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases. The company's pipeline was built around its proprietary KINOMEscan high-throughput kinase selectivity profiling platform, which screens compounds against the industry's largest commercially available kinase panel (442 kinases) and is supported by a proprietary chemical library of approximately 8,000 fully annotated compounds. Lead drug candidate quizartinib (AC220) was a once-daily, orally administered FLT3 kinase inhibitor in development for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), particularly the FLT3-ITD positive subset. Additional pipeline programs included AC410 (a JAK2 inhibitor for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases), AC708 (a CSF1R inhibitor for tumor-microenvironment targeting), and CEP-32496 (a BRAF inhibitor licensed to Teva).

The company's business model was partnership-driven and capital-efficient: Ambit retained development rights through Phase 2/2b to demonstrate clinical proof of concept, then licensed or co-developed candidates with larger pharmaceutical partners for late-stage development and commercialization. Major strategic deals included a worldwide FLT3 collaboration with Astellas Pharma (December 2009, $40 million upfront with up to $350 million in milestones plus tiered royalties), a $250 million BRAF collaboration with Cephalon (later Teva) in November 2006, and multiple expanded collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb. The KINOMEscan technology was also commercialized as a profiling service to external pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients.

Ambit raised approximately $165 million in private venture capital from leading life sciences investors including Aisling Capital, Apposite Capital, Forward Ventures, GIMV, MedImmune Ventures, OrbiMed, Roche Venture Fund, and others. The company was acquired by Daiichi Sankyo in 2014 for approximately $410 million, at which point quizartinib had entered Phase 3 clinical development. Both FDA and European Commission orphan drug designations had been granted to quizartinib for AML.

Name

Ambit Biosciences

Legal name

Ambit Biosciences Corporation

Website

https://ambitbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ambit Biosciences was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule kinase inhibitors for oncology, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases, with a lead FLT3 inhibitor (quizartinib) for acute myeloid leukemia. It leveraged a proprietary KINOMEscan profiling platform and partnered with large pharma for late-stage development before being acquired by Daiichi Sankyo in 2014.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopharmaceutical Drug Discovery (Kinase Inhibitors)

NAICS

Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Small-Molecule CMC Documentation & Regulatory Support (DMF/CMC) (HLAGAHAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Immunology & Autoimmune Specialty Pharmaceuticals (HLAIACAB), Bioanalytical & Biomarker CROs (PK/PD/Immunogenicity) (HLAGAAAD)

Keywords

• Small molecule kinase inhibitors
• Biopharmaceutical drug discovery
• Acute myeloid leukemia therapy
• Kinase selectivity profiling
• Oncology clinical development

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Partnership Revenue: Strategic partnerships provide upfront payments, milestone payments, and royalty payments. Ambit retains rights through discovery and early clinical development, then partners upon demonstrating clinical proof of concept.
2. KINOMEscan Profiling Services: Commercial kinase profiling service offered to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for screening their compound libraries.
3. Collaborative Research Revenue: Revenue from collaborations where Ambit applies its kinase drug discovery approach to help partners maximize the value of their kinase-focused small molecule libraries.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ambit Biosciences discovers, develops and partners small molecule kinase inhibitors targeting oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, with quizartinib (AC220) as lead FLT3 inhibitor for acute myeloid leukemia, alongside the JAK2 inhibitor AC410, CSF1R inhibitor AC708, and BRAF inhibitor CEP-32496 (partnered with Teva). The company also operates the proprietary KINOMEscan high-throughput kinase selectivity profiling platform, offering profiling services to other pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners.

Product overview

Ambit Biosciences is a biopharmaceutical company offering a pipeline of small molecule kinase inhibitors for oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The core portfolio includes lead drug candidate Quizartinib (AC220), an orally-administered FLT3 inhibitor for acute myeloid leukemia; AC410, a JAK2 inhibitor for autoimmune/inflammatory diseases; AC708, a CSF1R inhibitor for oncology and inflammation; and CEP-32496, a BRAF inhibitor licensed to Teva. The company also provides KINOMEscan, a proprietary high-throughput kinase profiling service, as a commercial offering to pharmaceutical partners. The portfolio is unified by Ambit's kinase expertise and proprietary chemical library of approximately 8,000 compounds for drug discovery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KINOME*scan: Ambit's innovative, high-throughput method for screening small molecule compounds against large numbers of human kinases. The technology provides a fast, accurate, uniform and quantitative kinase profile that details how well each compound binds to both intended and unintended targets. KINOME*scan offers the industry's largest available kinase profiling panel with 442 kinase assays.

Products and services

• Quizartinib (AC220) Once-daily, orally administered, potent and selective FLT3 kinase inhibitor developed for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patients with FLT3-ITD mutations. Received orphan drug designation from both the FDA and the European Commission.
• AC410 Potent, selective, orally-administered small molecule inhibitor of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) with potential utility for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma.
• AC708 (CSF1R Program) Potent and exquisitely selective small molecule compound that inhibits colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R), with potential utility in oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
• CEP-32496 Small molecule BRAF kinase inhibitor discovered by Ambit, now being developed and commercialized worldwide by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for melanoma and other cancers with BRAF mutations.
• KINOMEscan Kinase Selectivity Profiling Service Commercial high-throughput kinase selectivity profiling service offered to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; screens small molecule compounds against the industry's largest commercially available 442-kinase panel (scanMAX), 127-kinase tyrosine kinase panel (scanTK), 20-kinase lipid kinase panel (scanLIPID), and 12 mode-of-action assays (scanMODE), with visualization via the TREEspot tool.

Quantifiable outcome

• 46% composite complete remission rate (CRc) in FLT3-ITD positive relapsed/refractory AML patients at doses of 90, 135, or 200 mg/day
• +5 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Astellas Pharma Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2009Worldwide agreement to jointly research, develop and commercialize FLT3 kinase inhibitors in oncology and non-oncology indications, including quizartinib and other undisclosed FLT3 inhibitors. Ambit received $40M upfront, eligible for up to $350M in pre-commercialization milestones, plus commercial milestones and tiered royalties. Includes five-year joint research program. Ambit and Astellas share US/EU development costs equally; Astellas responsible for ex-US costs and 100% commercialization costs. Ambit retains US co-promotion option for 50% profit share.
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (formerly Cephalon)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2006$250M collaboration for identifying and developing clinical candidates targeting BRAF kinase and a second kinase. Cephalon paid $15.5M upfront. Ambit received $3M in milestones to date. Potential up to $44.5M for CEP-32496 and $47.5M for second compound in additional milestones, plus tiered royalties. Teva has worldwide development and commercialization responsibility.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 December 2005Expanded collaboration included Ambit receiving exclusive license to product candidates from a BMS solid tumor-directed preclinical kinase inhibitor program. Ambit received upfront payment, revenues, and equity investment. October 2007 further expanded collaboration for profiling BMS kinase-focused library.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2005In-licensed preclinical kinase inhibitor program from BMS and gained access to BMS chemistry. Combining BMS chemistry with Ambit's screening technology.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Blueprint Medicines: Precision therapy company developing selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancers and rare diseases. Comparable as a kinase-platform-driven biopharma with multiple internally-discovered clinical assets.
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries: Acquired Cephalon in 2011 and assumed the $250M BRAF kinase collaboration with Ambit, taking over worldwide development of CEP-32496. Comparable as the partner commercializing one of Ambit's pipeline assets.
• Exelixis: Small-molecule oncology company whose lead asset cabozantinib targets multiple kinases including MET, VEGFR, and AXL. Comparable as a small-molecule multi-kinase oncology company that grew from clinical-stage to commercial.
• Rigel Pharmaceuticals: Small-molecule drug developer focused on hematologic disorders, oncology, and immunology, with kinase-inhibitor and signaling-pathway programs. Comparable as a clinical/small-commercial biopharma with kinase biology expertise.
• Array BioPharma: Small-molecule kinase-inhibitor focused oncology company (acquired by Pfizer in 2019 for ~$11.4B) developing BRAF/MEK inhibitors. Highly comparable business model: small-molecule kinase discovery, pharma partnerships, and oncology focus.
• ARIAD Pharmaceuticals: Small-molecule kinase-inhibitor oncology company (acquired by Takeda in 2017 for ~$5.2B) known for ponatinib. Comparable as a kinase-focused clinical-stage biopharma that exited via strategic acquisition.
• Astellas Pharma: Worldwide development and commercialization partner for quizartinib under a 2009 deal worth up to $390M in upfront/milestones plus royalties. Closely aligned with Ambit on the FLT3 program strategy and economics.

Broad incumbents

• Incyte Corporation: Larger biopharmaceutical company with a kinase-inhibitor franchise (JAK1/2 — ruxolitinib) directly relevant to Ambit's JAK2 program. Comparable as a kinase-focused oncology/inflammation biopharma at greater commercial scale.
• Daiichi Sankyo: Japanese pharmaceutical company that acquired Ambit in 2014 for ~$410M, integrating quizartinib and KINOMEscan into its oncology portfolio. Comparable as the strategic acquirer of Ambit's kinase inhibitor pipeline and current owner of the lead asset.

Emerging players

• Sunesis Pharmaceuticals: Clinical-stage biopharma developing small-molecule kinase inhibitors for hematologic malignancies. Comparable as a peer-stage kinase-focused oncology developer targeting AML and related blood cancers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ambit-biosciences

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds10 records

Investors15 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ambit Biosciences