Best Oncology Companies in Illinois, United States
The 55 best Oncology companies in Illinois, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Cour Pharma.
Our analysis of 50 Oncology companies
$16.3b in tracked funding; 86% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Oncology companies in Illinois
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Employees | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cour Pharma Developer of biotech nano-particles for immune diseases | $135M | 29 mo ago | Series A | John Puisis Founder | 31 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Pathos 🦄 Provider of AI based drug discovery platform for drug development | $102M | 15 mo ago | Series D | Ryan Fukushima Co-Founder | 12 | DudaApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+14 | — | 2 job openings · 1 internship |
| 3 | Novian Health Developer of a device for the treatment of malignant and benign breast tumors | $33M | 30 mo ago | Series B | Chip Appelbaum President & CEO | 10 | — | — | — |
| 4 | Xentria Developer of therapeutics for treating cancer, metabolic diseases & musculoskeletal diseases | $25M | 45 mo ago | Series B | Tom Shea CEO | 2 | SalesforceAOSHSTS+4 | 11 patents Immunogenicity assays for anti‑TNFα biologics and TNF‑α antibody therapies for sarcoidosis | — |
| 5 | Acoustic Medsystems Image-guided therapeutic ultrasound devices for localized soft tissue diseases and pain | $21M | 93 mo ago | Funding Raised | Clif Burdette CEO | 6 | — | 40 patents Image‑guided therapeutic ultrasound devices and catheter‑based focused ultrasound ablation. | — |
| 6 | Coordination Pharmaceuticals Developer of immunotherapies for treating cancers | $18M | 58 mo ago | Series B | James Franck Founder & Chairman | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Adze Biotechnology Developer of drug for treating cancer | $10M | 40 mo ago | Series B | Sidney Hopps CEO | 2 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Monopar Therapeutics Developer of small molecules and antibodies for the treatment of cancers | $10M | 104 mo ago | Public | Christopher Starr Co-Founder & Chairman | 12 12 → 22 (+83%) | BootstrapApache HTTP ServerSlider Revolution+9 | — | 2 job openings |
| 9 | MAIA Developer of immunotherapeutic solutions for cancer treatment | $8M | 6 mo ago | Public | Vlad Vitoc Md Founder and CEO | 18 18 → 25 (+39%) | WordPressMySQLPHP+17 | — | 1 expansion |
| 10 | Pinnacle Biologics Specialty pharmaceutical company revitalizing therapies to maximize potential and improve patient outcomes | $8M | 174 mo ago | Acquired | — | 12 | — | 16 patents Photodynamic therapy agents and delivery methods for medical treatment | — |
| 11 | Vanquish Oncology Developing personalized oncology therapeutics by targeting molecular defects in cancer cells | $6M | 72 mo ago | Series A | Ted Tarasow CEO | — | — | 55 patents Activating procaspase‑3 via combination compounds for glioblastoma cancer therapy | — |
| 12 | Preora Healthcare Provider of pre-screening cancer tests | $5M | 104 mo ago | Series A | John Hart President and CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | Microsensor Labs Developer of lab-on-chip diagnostic technology for cancer and HAI | $5M | 9 mo ago | Funding Raised | Peng Paul Liu President and CEO | — | — | 31 patents Automated microbial detection/enumeration, magnetic cell sorting, and hygiene protocol compliance systems. | — |
| 14 | OrisDX Developer of genomic-based diagnostic test for cancer | $4M | 13 mo ago | Seed | Nishant Agrawal Co-Founder | 3 | — | — | — |
| 15 | NanoCytomics Revolutionizing cancer risk stratification with innovative, non-invasive diagnostic technology | $4M | 166 mo ago | Funding Raised | Vadim Backman CEO & Co-Founder | 7 | — | 46 patents Automated deposition and staining of biological samples for high‑throughput microscopy | — |
| 16 | Accelerated Pharma Developing chemotherapeutics utilising genomics screening technology | $4M | 117 mo ago | Seed | Michael Fonstein CEO & President | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Innoblative Designs Developer of electrosurgical devices for multiple surgical procedures | $3M | 110 mo ago | Seed | Tyler Wanke CEO & Co-Founder | — | — | 98 patents Minimally invasive electrosurgical tissue ablation and vessel sealing devices. | — |
| 18 | Creative BioTherapeutics Developer of next-generation therapies for the treatment of cancer | $3M | 13 mo ago | Seed | Donald Davidson Co-Founder & CEO | 3 | — | 15 patents Therapeutic proteins targeting extracellular GRP78 and kringle‑5 for cancer and neurodegeneration | — |
| 19 | Jivana Biotech Developer of RNAi-based cancer therapies | $2M | 103 mo ago | Deadpooled | Bellur Prabhakar CSO & Co-founder | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | MetriTrack Optimal breast ultrasound technology for earlier, more accurate cancer detection | $2M | 88 mo ago | Seed | — | 11 | — | 57 patents Medical imaging data registration, completeness tracking, and 3D ultrasound visualization systems. | — |
| 21 | ABO Health Provider of cancer risk assessment system | $2M | — | Deadpooled | — | 4 | — | — | — |
| 22 | Adhaere Pharmaceuticals Small molecules targeting innate immune system that modulate tumor microenvironment and fuel cancer cell… | $844K | 145 mo ago | Deadpooled | Vineet Gupta Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Nuago Therapeutics Developer of gene therapies for cancer treatment | $550K | 21 mo ago | Seed | Robert Schickel Chief Executive Officer | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Mariam Medical Preclinical biotechnology company pursuing a cure for Breast Cancer and also developing antiviral compounds. | $500K | 134 mo ago | Seed | Mark Holterman Founder & CEO | — | — | — | — |
| 25 | Vanquish Bio Developer of natural killer cell-derived extracellular vesicle cancer therapies | $400K | 51 mo ago | Funding Raised | Jacki Kornbluth Co-Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | CDG Therapeutics Biotechnology firm developing peptide-based therapies for cancer and infectious diseases | $187K | 177 mo ago | Deadpooled | Ananda M Chakrabarty Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 27 | Dawatek Developer of medical imaging devices to diagnose infectious and chronic diseases | $100K | 45 mo ago | Seed | Davina Moossazadeh Co-Founder & CTO | 5 | — | 4 patents Offset Raman spectroscopy imaging systems for non-contact chemical and pathogen analysis | — |
Top 12 Oncology companies in Illinois
#1
Public · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2018 · 18 employees$8Mraised▾
Developer of immunotherapeutic solutions for cancer treatment. It offers telomere targeting agent MAIA and THIO for the treatment of multiple cancer by targeting and modifying telomeric structures of cancer cells through cancer-cell intrinsic telomerase activity.
- Dec 2025Post IPO$1.5M
- Sep 2025Post IPO$3M
- Sep 2025Grant (prize money)$770.2K
- May 2025Post IPO$695K
#2
Pathos 🦄Series D · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2022 · 12 employees$102Mraised▾
Provider of AI based drug discovery platform for drug development. The company licenses or co develops clinical stage therapeutics, optimizing patient selection strategies for accelerated, biomarker driven drug development. It utilizes real world oncology data and patient derived functional genomic data to identify and validate compelling biology, aiming to develop efficacious drugs for patients with unmet needs and enhance patient outcomes.
- Apr 2025Series D$283M
- Oct 2024Series C$62M
#3
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2012$4.9Mraised▾
Developer of lab-on-chip diagnostic technology for cancer and HAI. The company develops CMOS sensor technology systems with existing semiconductor manufacturing technology to address challenges faced by medical professionals and lab researchers. Initial applications being developed include liquid biopsy for cancer, diagnosis of hospital-acquired infections, and environmental monitoring.
- Sep 2025Grant (prize money)$181.5K
- Apr 2022Grant (prize money)$2M
- Jan 2019Grant (prize money)$300K
- Sep 2018Grant (prize money)$1.7M
#4
Seed · Gurnee, Illinois · founded 2019 · 3 employees$3Mraised▾
Developer of next-generation therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company's lead candidate drug is CBT300 causes drug-resistant breast cancer tumor cell death. Another drug candidate is CBT200 for lung cancer patients with COVID-19.
- Jun 2025Grant (prize money)$400K
- Sep 2024Grant (prize money)$400K
- Aug 2023Seed$3M
- Jan 2021Grant (prize money)$255.7K
#5
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2013 · 31 employees$135.2Mraised▾
Developer of biotech nano-particles for immune diseases. It has a proprietary nanoparticle platform - Immune Modifying Nanoparticles for severe inflammations and Tolerizing Immune Modifying Nanoparticles for auto-immune conditions. The nanoparticles are made from an FDA-approved biodegradable copolymer. The TIMP platform works by introducing disease-specific antigens to re-program the immune system to target autoimmune or allergic conditions. The IMP Platform works by binding with the inflammation-causing monocytes and getting them eliminated from the body.
- Jan 2024Series A$105M
- Sep 2022Series A$30M
- Jan 2016Seed$169.3K
- Aug 2014Conventional Debt$500K
#6
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2022 · 3 employees$4Mraised▾
Developer of genomic-based diagnostic test for cancer. It offers saliva-based molecular diagnostics test to detect pre-cancers and cancers of the oral cavity.
- May 2025Seed$4M
#7
Series B · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1991 · 10 employees$32.7Mraised▾
Developer of a device for the treatment of malignant and benign breast tumors. The first product is Novilase Breast Therapy that enables surgeons and radiologists to ablate tumors with image-guided laser therapy. It is used for the treatment of fibroadenomas, or benign breast tumors, and ablation of soft tissue.
- Jan 2024Series B$5.3M
- Jul 2021Series B$14.4M
- Feb 2013Series A$11M
- Jun 2008Unattributed$3.4M
#8
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2020$550Kraised▾
Developer of gene therapies for cancer treatment. It offers single construct sRNAs and lipo-polyplex nanoparticle as a therapy for treatment resistant ovarian cancer (NU001) and prostate cancer (NU002). It utilizesshort RNAs to target and kill tumor cells with potential applications for platinum sensitivity.
- Sep 2024Grant (prize money)$400K
- Oct 2022Seed$150K
#9
Series B · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2020 · 2 employees$25Mraised▾
Developer of therapeutics for treating cancer, metabolic diseases & musculoskeletal diseases. The company is developing small-molecule drugs which include XTMAB- 6, XTMAB-18, and XTMAB -22.
- Oct 2022Series B$25M
#10
Series B · Oak Park, Illinois · founded 2018 · 2 employees$9.8Mraised▾
Adzebiotech is developing targeted viruses that deliver immune-stimulatory and immune evasion blocking proteins to tumors. It provides self-amplifying oncolytic viruses target and kills local and disseminated cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unaffected. The oncolytic vectors kill cancer cells directly, exposing cancer antigens to the immune system, while the immunotherapy payloads stimulate the patient's own immune response.
- Mar 2023Series B$6.2M
- May 2022Series A$3.7M
#11
Series B · Illinois City, Illinois · founded 2017$18Mraised▾
Developer of immunotherapies for treating cancers. The company has developed its own proprietary nanoscale coordination polymer (NCP) platform which targets target solid tumors. It increases T cells into lowly immunogenic solid tumors.
- Aug 2021Series B$18M
#12
Funding Raised · Savoy, Illinois · founded 2000 · 6 employees$20.7Mraised▾
Image-guided therapeutic ultrasound devices for localized soft tissue diseases and pain. The company focuses on developing minimally and non-invasive therapeutic ultrasound solutions. Their ultrasonic precision surgical ablation technology is designed for superior treatment of tumors and benign diseases. They offer a treatment planning and image-guided ablative therapy system. The system includes single-use needles and catheters for customized therapy delivery. Their technology provides control of conformal treatment margins, patient-customized treatment shapes, and short treatment times. It serves as a minimally invasive alternative to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. The company's devices offer precision shape control of therapy and image-guidance by multiple modalities, including ultrasound, CT-fluoroscopy, and MRI, with 3D targeting to the treatment site. This is a medical device company.
- Sep 2018Grant (prize money)$230.1K
- Aug 2018Grant (prize money)$3M
- Sep 2015Grant (prize money)$2.4M
- Aug 2013Grant (prize money)$177.4K
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Oncology coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time falling
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Oncology in Illinois is moving
A read on the academic research around Oncology in Illinois — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 133 papers.
- University of Illinois Chicago70
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign49
- Illinois College16
- Southern Illinois University School of Medicine8
- Illinois Department of Public Health3
- Tumor microenvironment1→18
- Cancer research1→13
- Stromal cell1→3
- Tumor microenvironment2→28
- Cancer research3→23
- Immunotherapy1→20
- Metastasis1→4
- Cancer research2→6
- Immunotherapy1→5
- Immune system1→4
- Cancer2→3
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.