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Mark Fortner

@markfortner

CEO @ https://aspen.bio, bioinformatics, cheminformatics, cancer research, AI in Drug Discovery, Research Project & Portfolio Management, FAIR data, semantic web, web components, java, groovy, genomics, proteomics, DEL, TPDs, Pancreatic Cancer

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13.11.2024
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Latest posts by Mark Fortner @markfortner

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Molecular glue biotech shutters after ‘brutal’ few years for early-stage companies Molecular glue-focused biotech f5 Therapeutics has failed to stick around for the long haul, shuttering after six years, according to an

Molecular glue #biotech shutters after 'brutal' few years for early stages companies | #SanDiego

11.03.2026 23:09 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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The Digital Transformation Roadmap - Improving Capital Efficiency & Velocity in Drug Discovery A Digital Transformation Roadmap can show you how to apply technologies like AI, automation and advanced analytics to improve the efficiency and velocity of your drug discovery operations. In this video, we take a look at some of the ways that these technologies can be applied to transform the way new medicines are discovered, and how a roadmap can help provide you with a plan for getting there. #digitaltransformation #drugdiscovery #ai #automation #analytics

Give us 10 minutes and we'll show you how Digital Transformation with AI and Automation can change your drug discovery operations.

bit.ly/4blEtN6

#DrugDiscovery #DigitalTransformation #AI #automation.

11.03.2026 17:12 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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A paired sequence language model for protein-protein interaction modeling www.nature.com/articles/s4...

11.03.2026 14:15 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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BioNTech's CEO, CMO prep departure to set up next-gen mRNA company BioNTech’s CEO and his fellow co-founder will depart the bio | BioNTech’s CEO and his fellow co-founder will depart the mRNA powerhouse by the end of the year to helm a new company focused on “next ge...

BioNTech's CEO, CMO prep departure to set up next-gen mRNA company | #biotech #vaccine

11.03.2026 14:43 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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New AI Model Predicts Cancer Spread With Incredible Accuracy Scientists have developed an AI system that analyzes complex gene-expression signatures to estimate the likelihood that a tumor will spread.

New AI Model Predicts Cancer Spread with Incredible Accuracy | #cancer #metastasis #AI

10.03.2026 19:52 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
USAID: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
USAID: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtube.com/watch?v=tU8S...

10.03.2026 13:52 👍 3097 🔁 1090 💬 103 📌 57
DNA Repair gene alterations and efficacy from gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel with/without durvalumab and tremelimumab in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma Nature Communications - The CCTG PA.7 randomized phase II trial compared chemotherapy with and without dual immune checkpoint inhibition in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal...

DNA Repair gene alterations and efficacy from gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel with/without durvalumab and tremelimumab in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma www.nature.com/articles/s4...

10.03.2026 14:15 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Unlocking the hidden pocket on a billion‑dollar drug target For years, a protein inside our cells has quietly powered billions of dollars' worth of cancer drugs. Now a team of researchers have discovered that this workhorse protein, called cereblon, in additio...

Unlocking the hidden pocket on a billion dollar drug target | #DrugDiscovery #chemsky #TPD #CRBN

10.03.2026 15:03 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Regeneron's obesity drug shows Zepbound-like efficacy in phase 3 Regeneron’s Chinese partner reported Z | Regeneron’s Chinese partner reported Zepbound-like efficacy in a phase 3 trial, de-risking one part of the Big Biotech’s differentiated play for the obesity ma...

Regeneron's obesity drug shows Zepbound-like efficacy in Phase III

10.03.2026 14:26 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Interesting to think that Donald Trump may have, completely inadvertently and at a horrific cost, finally woken up the world to how urgent it is we get off our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels.

09.03.2026 06:09 👍 445 🔁 95 💬 10 📌 8
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Remembering Phil Bourne Personal reflections on a legendary scientist, leader, builder, and mentor

Remembering Phil Bourne. Personal reflections on a legendary scientist, leader, builder, and mentor. blog.stephenturner.us/p/rememberin...

09.03.2026 20:54 👍 30 🔁 19 💬 7 📌 4

What kind of roses are they?

09.03.2026 21:28 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Bluesky CEO Jay Graber steps down | TechCrunch Bluesky's board will search for a replacement while Graber becomes Chief Innovation Officer.

Bluesky's board will search for a replacement while Graber becomes Chief Innovation Officer.

09.03.2026 19:34 👍 60 🔁 32 💬 5 📌 12
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State of Play 2025 What does the "State of Play" look like for the biotech and pharma industry in 2025? In this explainer, we take a look at some of the changes over the last year—from a resurgence in funding for high-value assets to the incredible speed of AI-driven drug discovery (did you know Pfizer is hitting 30-day discovery cycles?). For more details, read our free State of Play 2025 whitepaper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E1y6RRas74I2a4A1lFhZwZE2F9sDQucH/view?usp=drive_link

The biotech industry entered a phase of "disciplined resilience" in 2025. While venture funding is rebounding—surging 70% in Q3 alone—the capital is being tethered to clinical validation like never before.

This explainer gives you all of the highlights.
bit.ly/3NfNn59

09.03.2026 19:15 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

16-h fasting optimizes cancer immunotherapy in mice and humans

08.03.2026 11:04 👍 16 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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Got 8 minutes? Let us show you how the Pipeline Drug Discovery platform can transform your research operations, reduce risk & costs, and improve communication & collaboration.

bit.ly/4aKsNlJ

#Biotech #DrugDiscovery #AI #ProteinProd #Chemistry #AssayMgmt #Reg #Inventory

06.03.2026 18:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
AI State of Play 2025
AI State of Play 2025 The AI State of Play 2025 highlights a watershed year where AI-discovered molecules achieved Phase I clinical success rates of 80-90%, significantly outperforming the historical average of 40-65%. The report identifies five structural pillars: Big Pharma "AI Factories": Companies like Eli Lilly and Pfizer are building massive internal computational infrastructures and reducing discovery timelines for small molecules to just 30 days. TechBio Maturity: Companies like Insilico Medicine achieved a "Penicillin Moment" with positive Phase 2a results for the first entirely AI-native drug. Democratized Modeling: Open-source tools like Boltz-2 and OpenFold3 have commoditized high-accuracy molecular modeling. The "Agentic" Shift: A move toward autonomous systems that can independently formulate hypotheses and execute experiments. Regulatory Adaptation: Increased focus on biologics (13-year protection) over small molecules (9-year protection) due to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Download the AI State of Play 2025 to learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a6etlnbgWyC2PbZIZGGXWLCJ-saA4BSO/view?usp=drive_link

The 2025 AI State of Play is here. 🧬 AI-native drugs are hitting 80-90% Phase I success rates, fundamentally challenging Eroom's Law. This short video explainer fills in the details.

youtu.be/4BDoeGxy_ns

#AI #DrugDiscovery

06.03.2026 18:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Artist Project: Kehinde Wiley
The Artist Project: Kehinde Wiley YouTube video by The Met

An interesting short video on the artist Kehinde Wiley talking about John Singer Sargent. It's always interesting to see one artist dissect another's work.
youtu.be/4rvvJ0tKvmY?...

06.03.2026 06:06 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
State of Play 2025 What does the "State of Play" look like for the biotech and pharma industry in 2025? In this explainer, we take a look at some of the changes over the last year—from a resurgence in funding for high-value assets to the incredible speed of AI-driven drug discovery (did you know Pfizer is hitting 30-day discovery cycles?). For more details, read our free State of Play 2025 whitepaper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E1y6RRas74I2a4A1lFhZwZE2F9sDQucH/view?usp=drive_link

The biotech industry entered a phase of "disciplined resilience" in 2025. While venture funding is rebounding—surging 70% in Q3 alone—the capital is being tethered to clinical validation like never before.

This explainer gives you all of the highlights.
bit.ly/3NfNn59

05.03.2026 18:45 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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For readers interested in drug repurposing, this review summarizes the approaches, evaluates available in silico resources and presents case studies
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/e60em

05.03.2026 14:58 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Cell and Gene Day 2026 Cell and gene therapy has some wind beneath its sails. New regulatory frameworks from the Food and Drug Administration could help streamline development and manufacturing. Large pharma companies are i...

Today at 11 AM ET: The FDA is streamlining CGT R&D and big pharma is back at the table, but can the new science, regulatory and manufacturing leaps address the fundamental issues that still haunt the field? Find out what’s actually different this time — join us.

05.03.2026 15:14 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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How worried should you be about microplastics? Microplastics have been found accumulating everywhere from our water to our body tissues, but many of the claims have come under fresh scrutiny. Chelsea Whyte cuts through the research to tell you whether you really need to worry

Microplastics have been found accumulating everywhere from our water to our body tissues, but many of the claims have come under fresh scrutiny. Chelsea Whyte cuts through the research to tell you whether you really need to worry

05.03.2026 15:17 👍 8 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
The Digital Transformation Roadmap - Improving Capital Efficiency & Velocity in Drug Discovery A Digital Transformation Roadmap can show you how to apply technologies like AI, automation and advanced analytics to improve the efficiency and velocity of your drug discovery operations. In this video, we take a look at some of the ways that these technologies can be applied to transform the way new medicines are discovered, and how a roadmap can help provide you with a plan for getting there. #digitaltransformation #drugdiscovery #ai #automation #analytics

Give us 10 minutes and we'll show you how Digital Transformation with AI and Automation can change your drug discovery operations.

bit.ly/4blEtN6

#DrugDiscovery #DigitalTransformation #AI #automation.

04.03.2026 18:12 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Creating medicine has the complexity of a moonshot. In the lab, it’s a journey of a million data points. 🚀🧬

Pipeline is your Mission Control for:
🔹 Target selection
🔹 Library design
🔹 Project planning
🔹 Assay Management
🔹 CRO/CDMO collab

pipeline@aspen.bio

#Biotech #DrugDiscovery

04.03.2026 18:00 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Lafayette father first in Colorado to receive newly approved pancreatic cancer drug A Lafayette father's battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer is taking a hopeful turn as he becomes the first in Colorado to receive a newly approved targeted therapy.

Lafayette father first in Colorado to receive newly approved pancreatic cancer drug | #cancer #PancreaticCancer

04.03.2026 14:38 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Scientists find the genetic switch that makes pancreatic cancer resist chemotherapy Scientists have identified a crucial molecular switch that decides whether pancreatic cancer cells resist chemotherapy or respond to it. The key player, a gene called GATA6, keeps tumours in a more st...

Scientists find the genetic switch that makes pancreatic cancer resist chemotherapy | #cancer #PancreaticCancer

04.03.2026 14:35 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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In reversal, Prime Medicine will seek FDA approval of previously shelved gene therapy While other drugmakers have criticized the FDA’s recent judgment on rare disease treatments, Prime Medicine says the agency’s rhetoric pushed it to move forward with a rare immune disease therapy it h...

In a reversal, Prime Medicine will seek FDA accelerated approval for a previously shelved gene editing therapy in rare immune disease, citing the agency’s evolving stance on rare conditions.

03.03.2026 21:44 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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This is why red states have higher voter apathy. Always shenanigans.

I feel bad for these folks just trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote and having to deal with this mess.

Info in 🧵

03.03.2026 20:46 👍 5155 🔁 2139 💬 260 📌 159
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Theravance ends R&D, lays off half of workforce after repeated Phase 3 fails Theravance Biopharma will wind down its entire R&D organization and lay off 50% of its overall workforce after another Phase 3 fail for an experimental medicine called ampreloxetine.

Theravance is shutting down R&D and cutting half its workforce after yet another Phase 3 failure for ampreloxetine, as the biotech weighs strategic alternatives.

03.03.2026 21:08 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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DURBIN: How does taking dad from child dying of cancer qualify as a violent crime?

NOEM: I don't know what you're speaking of

D: Ruben Torres 2 weeks ago buried his daughter. When he was arrested at Home Depot, he said, 'Please. My daughter is dying.' They deported him. Was he a violent criminal?

03.03.2026 15:02 👍 10787 🔁 3497 💬 741 📌 227