Michael A. Martino
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Martino joined Ambit as President and Chief Executive Officer in November 2011, bringing a nearly 30-year track record in leading privately held and publicly traded life sciences companies through late-stage clinical development, fundraising, commercial and business development activities, including new product launches and mergers and acquisitions. From 1999 to 2008, Mr. Martino served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded cancer therapeutics company. During his tenure, he refocused the company on oncology drug development, and oversaw development of the company’s lead cancer therapeutic through a pivotal Phase 3 trial conducted under a special protocol assessment. In addition, he played an integral role in establishing and managing collaborations with partners, raising capital from public markets and completing a reverse merger with Oncogenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2009-10, Mr. Martino was President and Chief Executive Officer of Arzeda Corp., a privately held company based on enzyme design and development technology licensed from the University of Washington. In 2010 until joining Ambit, Mr. Martino held multiple positions with CareFusion Corporation, including Senior Vice President and General Manager of Diagnostics and Senior Vice President of Innovation, Business Development and Strategy. Earlier in his career, he held multiple positions during a 17-year tenure at Mallinckrodt in strategic planning, business development, marketing and general management. Mr. Martino received an M.B.A. from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree from Roanoke College. He currently serves on the board of directors of Ambit and Arzeda Corp.
Alan Fuhrman
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Fuhrman has served as our chief financial officer since October 2010. From November 2008 to September 2010, Mr. Fuhrman served as vice president and chief financial officer of Naviscan, Inc., a medical imaging company focused on the management of breast cancer. From September 2004 through August 2008, he served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Sonus Pharmaceuticals, a public pharmaceutical development company that merged with Oncogenex Pharmaceuticals in August 2008. From April 2002 until its acquisition in July 2004, Mr. Fuhrman served as president and chief operating officer of Integrex, Inc. From February 1999 until March 2002, he was the chief financial officer at Capital Stream, Inc., a financial services workflow automation company. Mr. Fuhrman received B.S. degrees in both business administration and agricultural economics from Montana State University. Mr. Fuhrman received his Certified Public Accountant Certification from the State of Oregon; however, currently he is not an active CPA.
Athena Countouriotis
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Athena Countouriotis joined Ambit as Chief Medical Officer in February 2012, bringing particular expertise in development through successful advisory committee hearings and regulatory approval of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and other treatments for hematologic malignancies. Prior to joining Ambit, Athena was a Global Clinical Leader for Pfizer Oncology. In this role, she was responsible for leading world-wide clinical development of bosutinib in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), Mylotarg in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and Sutent in multiple indications. Her efforts in 2011 led to a successful Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) hearing and the approval of the sNDA for Sutent in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, as well as two submissions (NDA and MAA) for bosutinib in CML. Prior to joining Pfizer Oncology, she was Director of Oncology Global Clinical Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) with responsibility for leading clinical development of Sprycel in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and CML. During her tenure at BMS, Athena wrote many of the submission documents and ODAC materials for Sprycel, which led to subsequent approvals in CML and ALL. Earlier in her career, she held the position as Associate Medical Director at Cell Therapeutics based in Seattle. Athena received her medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine. She completed postgraduate training at UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital and a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington.