San Diego-based Ambit Biosciences inked a deal Friday with Astellas Pharma Inc., where Astellas will pay the firm $40M in cash, and up to $350M in pre-commercialization milestones, in a joint partnership to develop and commercialize Ambit's FLT3 kinase inhibitors. According to Ambit and Astellas, the deal also includes post-approval milestones dependent on sales thresholds, as well as tiered, double-digit royalties on net sales of products based on Ambit's AC220 products. Ambit's compound is being applied to treating blood cancers in adults, specifically acute myeloid leukemia (AML).