Ambit Biosciences has entered into a kinase screening collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and GlaxoSmithkline. Under the collaboration with BMS, Ambit will employ its proprietary kinase platform to characterize the specificity of certain Bristol-Myers Squibb compounds. Ambit's groundbreaking kinase platform is a rapidly expanding panel of more than 170 quantitative, high-throughput kinase assays.

"Our kinase platform enables Ambit and our partners to fundamentally improve and accelerate the process of identifying high-quality, small molecule kinase inhibitors. We are particularly proud of the Bristol-Myers Squibb relationship because it is a continuation of prior work we have done with the company and continues to validate our unique screening capability," said Scott Salka, CEO of Ambit.

Under the collaboration with GSK, Ambit will employ its proprietary kinase platform to profile kinase target specificity of selected GSK compounds, thereby accelerating the discovery and development of novel drug candidates.

Scott added, "The earnings generated from our partnerships, including our existing multi-year collaboration with Roche, will support the continued development of Ambit's pipeline of drug candidates for the treatment of stroke and various cancers, the first of which we plan to advance into clinical trials during 2005."