# ACTUATE THERAPEUTICS ACTUATE THERAPEUTICS is an other based in Chicago, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** other - **Headquarters:** Chicago, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Chicago, IL, United States - **Founded:** 2017 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** actuatetherapeutics.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/actuate-therapeutics-inc. ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Actuate Therapeutics was established in 2017 in Chicago, Illinois, by a trio of medical and scientific heavyweights: Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, a long-time principal investigator of early-phase oncology trials; Dr. Linda Malkas, the biologist who characterized the target; and Dr. Robert Stocum, who came from the oncology and pharmacology side. The founding was not a platform roll-up — it was a single-molecule bet on GSK-3β inhibition, an area that most large pharma companies had probed but abandoned for fear of off-target toxicity. Von Hoff’s involvement brought immediate credibility, linking the startup to the clinical network at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. Actuate pursues a single-asset strategy centered on elraglusib (9-ING-41), a small-molecule GSK-3β inhibitor. The mechanism aims to disrupt both the tumor’s own survival pathways and its capacity to resist platinum-based chemotherapies. This shifts the clinical focus from front-line monotherapy to second- and third-line combination regimens — enrolling patients with pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma, and pediatric sarcomas in investigator-sponsored and company-run Phase 2 trials. The company has forged academic partnerships across the United States, with active clinical sites at centers like the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The firm is small and clinical-stage — its public disclosures show a lean, out-sourced operating model reliant on contract research organizations. Actuate’s financing came through a Series B in 2021 and subsequent bridge rounds, with named investors including Kairos Ventures, DEFTA Partners, and Hatteras Venture Partners. It does not disclose total deployment or team headcount. What differentiates Actuate structurally is its tight coupling to a single academic investigator’s life work — Malkas spent decades on the target before the company existed, and Von Hoff has designed protocols around its clinical behavior rather than fitting the molecule into standard off-the-shelf trial templates. The company is not a portfolio of assets; it is a single thesis executed through a grant-like network of investigator-initiated trials. This lowers burn but concentrates binary risk entirely on one mechanism and one lead investigator’s clinical reputation. ## Sectors - Healthcare Services ## People - Daniel D. Von Hoff — Scientific Co-Founder - Linda Malkas — Scientific Co-Founder - Andrew Mazar — Chief Executive Officer ## Questions ### Who founded Actuate Therapeutics and what is their scientific background? Actuate was co-founded in 2017 by Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, a nationally recognized oncologist who has led hundreds of Phase 1 trials and holds a position at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, and Dr. Linda Malkas, a professor at City of Hope whose laboratory originally characterized the role of GSK-3β in cancer cell DNA repair. The third co-founder, Dr. Robert Stocum, contributed pharmacology and clinical development expertise. Von Hoff’s clinical reputation anchors the firm’s access to large academic trial networks. ### What is elraglusib and how does its mechanism differ from other kinase inhibitors? Elraglusib (9-ING-41) is a small-molecule inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta. Unlike many kinase inhibitors that target oncogenic driver mutations directly, elraglusib does not aim to kill tumor cells on its own — instead it disrupts tubulin polymerization and degrades beta-catenin, blocking chemotherapy-resistance pathways. This makes it a sensitizer agent, intended to revive platinum and taxane sensitivity in patients whose tumors have progressed on standard combinations. ### How is Actuate funded and who are its major investors? Actuate has raised capital through private biotech equity rounds, including a Series B financing in 2021. Disclosed investors include Kairos Ventures, a deep-tech and life-science venture firm, DEFTA Partners, a cross-border technology investor, and Hatteras Venture Partners. The company does not publicly report its total capital raised or burn rate. Its capital-efficient model relies on investigator-initiated trials rather than fully company-sponsored registration studies. ### Is Actuate Therapeutics a public company? No. As of the most recent public record, Actuate Therapeutics is a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology firm. It has not filed for an initial public offering. Its stock is not listed on any exchange, and its shareholder base consists of venture capital firms and the founding scientists. ## Related profiles - [Nuran Wireless](https://altss.com/profile/nuran-wireless-inc) - [Sachem Capital](https://altss.com/profile/sachem-capital-corp) --- Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/actuate-therapeutics-inc Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology