# PRUNUS Therapeutics

> PRUNUS Therapeutics is a founder-led Chicago biotechnology startup developing a preclinical anti-metastatic candidate called :D, or "Smiley." Its unusual premise is to exploit a temporary biological state rather than a familiar tumor marker: the company says the compound is highly cytotoxic to cancer cells growing as detached 3D spheroids while largely sparing the same cells in an attached 2D monolayer. The idea is intriguing, the published company evidence is still preclinical, and the next hard test is whether that laboratory selectivity translates into safe, useful treatment in living systems and eventually people.

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** Chicago, United States
- **Founders:** Nobu (Nobuhide) Ueki (CEO and Founder)
- **Team size:** 2-10 employees listed on LinkedIn; other business directories describe a very small team.
- **Products:** :D ("Smiley"), Synthetic-biology cancer therapeutics platform
- **Notable:** Launched in the Chicagoland area in 2016., Advanced a patent-pending anti-metastatic candidate into preclinical development., Produced a dose-response result showing a large separation between attachment-free and 2D-monolayer cytotoxicity in the company's public materials.

## Products & services

- **:D ("Smiley")** — A patent-pending, preclinical anti-metastatic candidate that PRUNUS says selectively kills cancer cells growing in attachment-free 3D spheroids while showing little effect on the same cells in attached 2D monolayers. The company describes it as chemo-free because it does not rely on known DNA-damaging agents or microtubule inhibitors.
- **Synthetic-biology cancer therapeutics platform** — The broader discovery platform PRUNUS describes for finding and developing selective, sustainable therapeutics and diagnostics for human and animal healthcare; the publicly featured program is the anti-metastatic :D candidate.

## Achievements

- Launched in the Chicagoland area in 2016.
- Advanced a patent-pending anti-metastatic candidate into preclinical development.
- Produced a dose-response result showing a large separation between attachment-free and 2D-monolayer cytotoxicity in the company's public materials.
- Founder Nobuhide Ueki co-authored peer-reviewed cancer-selective prodrug research in Nature Communications in 2013 and Theranostics in 2016.
- Founder Nobuhide Ueki is a named inventor on US Patent 9,872,919, assigned to the Research Foundation for the State University of New York and issued in 2018.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — PRUNUS published the video "PRUNUS' Challenge," explaining its focus on detached cancer cells and its :D lead candidate.
- **2018-01** — US Patent 9,872,919 for selective anticancer prodrugs, naming founder Nobuhide Ueki as a co-inventor and assigned to the Research Foundation for SUNY, was issued.
- **2016-03** — Ueki and collaborators published a preclinical study of an improved HDAC- and cathepsin L-activated anticancer prodrug in Theranostics; this is founder background research, not public proof of the current :D asset.

## Links

- Website: https://www.prunustx.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prunustx
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@prunustherapeutics3059

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/prunus-therapeutics
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-21