Medarex And Ambit Biosciences Establish Alliance To Develop Human Antibody Therapeutics

Princeton, NJ and San Diego, CA - November 16, 2001 - Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX) and Ambit Biosciences Corporation, a privately held San Diego-based company, announced today the formation of a multi-year strategic collaboration. The two companies expect to utilize Medarex's UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System(SM) and Ambit's proprietary ProteomeScan™ screening technology to jointly develop and commercialize monoclonal antibody therapeutic products to treat human disease.

Under the terms of the agreement, both companies expect to share equally the costs and revenues associated with the preclinical and clinical development and subsequent commercialization of any resulting products. Additionally, Medarex has made a $1 million equity investment in Ambit.

"By combining our respective technologies, Ambit and Medarex expect to accelerate our common goal of developing and commercializing novel therapeutics. We look forward to working with Ambit to achieve this goal," said Donald L. Drakeman, President and CEO of Medarex.

"Our technology gives us the power to scan the proteome to identify the protein targets of drugs whose mechanisms have not been elucidated. We expect this collaboration to further validate the unique ability of our screening technology to expedite the drug discovery and development process," said M. Scott Salka, Chief Executive of Ambit Biosciences. "It's exciting for a year-old company to be able to forge such a direct path to the commercialization of our discoveries with a proven performer like Medarex."

About Ambit Biosciences Corporation
Ambit Biosciences Corporation is a private, San Diego-based corporation whose mission is to discover the molecular identities of therapeutically relevant drug targets and identify compounds that modulate the activity of these targets for the treatment of human disease. Using its proprietary ProteomeScan™ technologies, Ambit circumvents many of the difficult and time-consuming steps in the conventional drug discovery and development process by identifying and patenting the protein targets of small molecules and peptides with therapeutically and commercially important pharmacological or biological activities, but unknown mechanisms of action.

About Medarex, Inc.
Medarex, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company developing monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to fight cancer and other life-threatening and debilitating diseases. Medarex has assembled a broad platform of patented technologies for antibody discovery and development, including the UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System(SM) for the creation of high-affinity, fully human antibodies; T-12 Development(SM) offering the potential to move from target to trial in approximately 12 months; and Trans-Phage Technology(SM) combining high throughput screening with fully human antibody development. Medarex creates and develops fully human antibodies for itself and others, offering a full range of antibody related capabilities, including pre-clinical and clinical development supported by cGMP manufacturing services. For more information about Medarex, visit its website at www.medarex.com.

For Medarex: Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed herein may constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words "believes"; "anticipates"; "intends"; "plans"; "expects"; "estimates"; or similar statements are forward-looking statements. Medarex disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include risks associated with product discovery and development as well as risks detailed from time to time in Medarex's public disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. There can be no assurance that such development efforts will succeed, that such products will receive required regulatory clearance or that, even if such regulatory clearance were received, such products would ultimately achieve commercial success. Copies of Medarex's public disclosure filings are available from its investor relations department.

Medarex®, the Medarex logo, UltiMAb™, UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System(SM), T-12 Development(SM) and Trans-Phage Technology(SM) are trademarks and service marks of Medarex, Inc. All rights are reserved.

ProteomeScan™ is a trademark of Ambit Biosciences Corporation.

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