Vanquish Oncology

Vanquish Oncology is focused on developing targeted, small molecule oncology therapeutics for unmet or underserved cancer markets. Vanquish currently has an advanced program in selectively triggering cancer cell death through activating procaspase 3, a key late-stage effector of apoptosis. Vanquish is developing procaspase 3 activators as orally delivered therapies through a capital efficient virtual model that leverages contract research and manufacturing to minimize infrastructure outlays and overhead. Vanquish has a pipeline of product candidates stemming from its proprietary Procaspase-3 Activation (P3A) Program that directly cause the induction of apoptotic cell death in certain cancer cells. The P3A program includes first and second generation procaspase activators as well as combination products, all focused on oncology applications where the mode of action has demonstrated efficacious results in oncological cancer models.

The company was founded by Professor Paul J. Hergenrother, University of Illinois, and Mike Handley and Ted Tarasow of Level 5 Partners. Vanquish has a worldwide license from the University of Illinois covering the small molecule procaspase 3 activating technology developed in Professor Hergenrother’s laboratory. The company received initial seed funding of $250K from Illinois Ventures and more recently closed a $2 MM angel round of investment. The Company is focusing these funds on the development of the first ever Procaspase 3 activator for oncology applications.