When was Aptose Biosciences founded?

Aptose Biosciences was founded in 1986 and raised its 1st funding round 26 years after it was founded.

Where is Aptose Biosciences located?

Aptose Biosciences is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada. It is registered at San Diego, California.

How many employees does Aptose Biosciences have?

As of Jul 31, 2026, the latest employee count at Aptose Biosciences is 28.

Is Aptose Biosciences a funded company?

Aptose Biosciences is a funded company, having raised an undisclosed amount across 4 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a $***** Post IPO round, raised on May 31, 2012.

When was the latest funding round of Aptose Biosciences?

Aptose Biosciences' latest funding was a $***** Post IPO round on Jan 31, 2024, with participation from 1 investor.

Where does Aptose Biosciences rank among its competitors?

Aptose Biosciences ranks 525th amongst 3264 active competitors, of which 1117 are funded. It stands 11th in terms of total funding among its competitors. The most recent competitor to raise funding was Immuneel, which secured $10.5M in Jun, 2026.

Who are the top competitors of Aptose Biosciences?

Aptose Biosciences' top competitors include Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Sana Biotechnology and Senti Bio. Among them, Immuneel secured the most recent funding round in June, 2026.

Aptose Biosciences - 2026 Company Profile, Funding, Competitors & Financials

Company Details

Aptose Biosciences (formerly Lorus Therapeutics) is developing therapeutics to treat life-threatening cancers such as such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) based on a patient’s specific gene expression signature. It is also creating proprietary companion diagnostic tools to identify predisposed sensitivities to targeted therapies for use as a single-agent or combination regimens. Its lead product, APTO-253 is for the treatment of AML and MDS. APTO-253 is an inducer of the Kruppel-like factor 4 gene (the Klf4 Gene) for patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. Additionally, it also has a preclinical small molecule program, APTO-500, targeting maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) for the treatment of various cancers. Its large molecule program includes a molecule to target specific cell-surface receptors expressed in certain cancers expressing the Interleukin-17E receptor (IL-17ER).

Website: www.aptose.com/
Registered Address: San Diego, California

Key Metrics

Founded Year

1986

Location

Mississauga, Canada

Stage

Acquired

Latest Funding Round

Post IPO, Jan 31, 2024, $*****

Investors

Lumira Ventures & 2 more

Ranked

525^th among 3264 active competitors

Employee Count

28 as on Jul 31, 2026

Similar Companies

Jazz Pharmaceuticals & 2974 more

Exit Details

Acquired by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals (Nov 19, 2025)

View Aptose Biosciences' full profile

Aptose Biosciences is associated with 2 legal entities given below:

Legal Entity Name	Date of Incorporation	Revenue	Latest Employee Count	Documents
APTOSE BIOSCIENCES INC CIN: 981136802 , United States, Active	Dec 26, 999	-	12 (As on Dec 31, 2024)	-
APTOSE BIOSCIENCES INC. CIN: 882361 , United States, Active	Apr 22, 2014	-	-	-

Aptose Biosciences got acquired by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals on Nov 19, 2025.

Click here to take a look at Aptose Biosciences's acquisition in detail

Aptose Biosciences has raised funding over 4 rounds. Its first funding round was on May 31, 2012. Its latest funding round was a Post IPO round on Jan 31, 2024 for $*****. 1 investor participated in its latest round. Aptose Biosciences has 3 institutional investors.

Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Aptose Biosciences:

Filter this list

Date of Funding	Funding Amount	Round Name	Post-Money Valuation	Revenue Multiple	Lead Investors	Other Investors
Jan 31, 2024	7411976	Post IPO	7262602	2484129	2806098	1144341
Apr 23, 2014	4776439	Post IPO	2351663	3844819	7601122	5243774
Dec 10, 2013	4149369	Post IPO	4982869	1080986	5381972	4199623

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View details of Aptose Biosciences's funding rounds and investors

Aptose Biosciences' employee count trend

Aptose Biosciences has 28 employees as of Jul 26. Here is Aptose Biosciences's employee count trend over the years:

Employee count trend for Aptose Biosciences

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Top competitors of Aptose Biosciences include Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Sana Biotechnology and Senti Bio. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Aptose Biosciences, ranked by Tracxn score:

Rank	Company Details	Short Description	Total Funding	Investors	Tracxn Score
1st	Jazz Pharmaceuticals 2003, Dublin (Ireland), Public	Developer of novel biopharmaceutical medicines for unmet medical needs	$265M	Versant Ventures, Prospect Venture Partners ... & 14 others	82/100
2nd	Sana Biotechnology 2018, Seattle (United States), Public	Developer of engineered cell therapies for treating various human diseases	$821M	Google Ventures, Baillie Gifford & 17 others	75/100
3rd	Senti Bio 2016, San Francisco (United States), Public	Developer of cell and gene therapies for patients living with incurable diseases	$158M	Celadon Partners, New Enterprise Associates ... & 30 others	72/100
4th	Ideaya Biosciences 2015, San Francisco (United States), Public	Developer of oncology-focused precision medicine using molecular diagnostics	$157M	BVF Partners, Boxer Capital & 15 others	72/100
5th	Sutro Biopharma 2003, United States, Public	Developer of antibody-based therapeutics for cancer therapy	$175M	Skyline Ventures, Alta Partners & 17 others	72/100
6th	Syndax 2005, Waltham (United States), Public	Developer of targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer	$198M	Fidelity Investments, Domain Associates & 19 others	72/100
7th	Karyopharm 2008, Newton (United States), Public	Biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative cancer therapies	$98.4M	Foresite Capital, Avidity Partners & 16 others	71/100
8th	Moderna 2010, Cambridge (United States), Public	Developer of mRNA-based therapeutics for a wide range of diseases	$2.78B	Merck, AstraZeneca & 32 others	71/100
9th	C4 Therapeutics 2016, Cambridge (United States), Public	Developer of small molecule drugs for treating cancer	$223M	Cobro Ventures, Perceptive Advisors & 27 others	71/100
10th	Immuneel 2018, Bengaluru (India), Series B	Developer of T-cell therapies for the treatment of cancer	$49.8M	True North, Khosla Ventures & 23 others	71/100
525th	Aptose Biosciences 1986, Mississauga (Canada), Acquired	Targeted small molecules for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes.	-	Lumira Ventures, Hanmi Pharmaceuticals & 1 others	52/100