Martino served at a cancer therapeutics company – Sonus Pharmaceuticals as president and CEO from 1999 to 2008 where he developed company’s lead cancer therapeutic through a pivotal Phase 3 trial conducted under a special protocol assessment.
In 2009, Martino joined with the cofounders of Arzeda, a company focused on enzyme design and development using technology licensed from the University of Washington .
In 2010, Martino joined CareFusion and held many roles as senior vice president and general manager of diagnostics and senior vice president of Innovation, Business Development and Strategy.
Ambit Biosciences CEO Michael Martino said there is tremendous promise in quizartinib where the interim Phase 2 data suggest durable leukemic control in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia patients with FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) -ITD mutations who otherwise have very limited treatment options available.
"I also look forward to focusing and leading the development of our earlier clinical stage assets, AC430 and AC480, which are targeted at large patient populations with unmet needs," Martino said.
Ambit chairman Faheem Hasnain said Michael will provide the necessary experience and leadership to drive quizartinib through the approval process and prioritize and focus development of the pipeline.
Quizartinib is being developed in collaboration between Ambit Biosciences and Astellas Pharma and is a potent, highly selective, orally bioavailable FLT3 inhibitor.