Ambit Biosciences Files for IPO

The selected underwriting syndicate shows Citigroup and Leerink Swann as the book-running managers. Other underwriters in the syndicate are BMO Capital Markets and Baird. The biotech’s pipeline includes the following:

• Quizartinib is its lead candidate as a once-daily, orally-administered, potent and selective inhibitor of FLT3, a validated target in the treatment of AML, and is currently in Phase 2b clinical development.
• AC410 as its second most advanced drug candidate, is called a potent, selective, orally-administered, small molecule inhibitor of JAK2, which has potential utility for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
• CSF1R Program is developing two potent and exquisitely selective small molecule compounds, AC708 and AC855, that both inhibit CSF1R and have potential utility in oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

What is interesting here is that Ambit said that existing stockholders have agreed to purchase more shares of Ambit’s common stock in a separate private placement concurrent with the completion of this offering at a price per share equal to the initial public offering price. AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) and Roche are listed along with other venture backers as existing shareholders.

FULL SEC FILING

Here is the company’s own description:

We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs to treat unmet medical needs in oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by inhibiting kinases that are important drivers for those diseases. Our pipeline currently includes three programs, each aimed at the inhibition of validated kinase targets. Our lead drug candidate, quizartinib, which we formerly referred to as AC220, is a once-daily, orally-administered, potent and selective inhibitor of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3, or FLT3. We have partnered with Astellas Pharma Inc. and Astellas US LLC, collectively Astellas, for the worldwide co-development and commercialization of quizartinib and we maintain an option to co-promote the drug in the United States. Quizartinib is currently in Phase 2b clinical development in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, who express a genetic mutation in FLT3. To support a new drug application, or NDA, pending input from regulatory authorities, we and Astellas plan to initiate a randomized, comparative Phase 3 clinical trial in relapsed/refractory AML patients who express a genetic mutation in FLT3 by the end of 2013. Our second drug candidate in clinical development, AC410, is a potent, selective, orally-administered, small molecule inhibitor of Janus kinase 2, or JAK2, that has potential utility for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Our third program consists of two potent and exquisitely selective small molecule compounds, AC708 and AC855, which inhibit the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor, or CSF1R, a receptor tyrosine kinase. Both of these compounds are in preclinical studies and have potential utility in oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. All of our drug candidates and clinical candidates have been internally discovered by us.