Mark Fortner
@markfortner.bsky.social
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
Pinned
The 2025 Biotech "State of Play" is here. 🔬
We’re seeing massive shifts:
AI-Driven Improvements in productivity, timelines, and success rates.
M&A deal values up 31%.
$350B in rev. at risk by 2029.
Ready for recalibration?
drive.google.com/file/d/1E1y6...
#LifeSciences #Biotech #Innovation
We’re seeing massive shifts:
AI-Driven Improvements in productivity, timelines, and success rates.
M&A deal values up 31%.
$350B in rev. at risk by 2029.
Ready for recalibration?
drive.google.com/file/d/1E1y6...
#LifeSciences #Biotech #Innovation
Corcept racks up phase 3 #cancer win to bounce back from FDA Cushing’s rejection
Corcept racks up phase 3 cancer win to bounce back from FDA Cushing's rejection
Corcept Therapeutics’ relacorilant has
www.fiercebiotech.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Corcept racks up phase 3 #cancer win to bounce back from FDA Cushing’s rejection
A beautiful white rose from our morning walk. | #bloomscrolling
January 23, 2026 at 4:16 PM
A beautiful white rose from our morning walk. | #bloomscrolling
Reposted by Mark Fortner
The needle in the haystack problem: spotting novel drug targets among redundant evidence.
Our solution? A time-series novelty metric for Open Targets Platform associations.
Thanks to Coté Falaguera & @opentargets.org partners for making this happen.
Our solution? A time-series novelty metric for Open Targets Platform associations.
Thanks to Coté Falaguera & @opentargets.org partners for making this happen.
Out now in Nature Communications! 🧬🖥️
An Open Targets team developed a metric for the novelty of a target in the context of a disease, according to current available knowledge.
This allows drug discovery scientists to easily identify potentially novel targets
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
An Open Targets team developed a metric for the novelty of a target in the context of a disease, according to current available knowledge.
This allows drug discovery scientists to easily identify potentially novel targets
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Temporal trends in evidence supporting novel drug target discovery - Nature Communications
Here the authors implement a comprehensive timestamping across millions of pieces of biomedical evidence supporting target–disease associations in the Open Targets Platform and analyse trends in evide...
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:34 AM
The needle in the haystack problem: spotting novel drug targets among redundant evidence.
Our solution? A time-series novelty metric for Open Targets Platform associations.
Thanks to Coté Falaguera & @opentargets.org partners for making this happen.
Our solution? A time-series novelty metric for Open Targets Platform associations.
Thanks to Coté Falaguera & @opentargets.org partners for making this happen.
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Why do so many apparently healthy people die or get severely ill from infections that would be considered low risk?
For one, we don't have any way of assessing a person's immune system function in the clinic
nature.com/articles/d41...
For one, we don't have any way of assessing a person's immune system function in the clinic
nature.com/articles/d41...
January 14, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Why do so many apparently healthy people die or get severely ill from infections that would be considered low risk?
For one, we don't have any way of assessing a person's immune system function in the clinic
nature.com/articles/d41...
For one, we don't have any way of assessing a person's immune system function in the clinic
nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Mark Fortner
A vaccine to prevent colon cancer.
Proof-of-concept for strong immune response and safety via neoantigens given to people carrying mutations for Lynch syndrome
nature.com/articles/s41...
Proof-of-concept for strong immune response and safety via neoantigens given to people carrying mutations for Lynch syndrome
nature.com/articles/s41...
Nous-209 neoantigen vaccine for cancer prevention in Lynch syndrome carriers: a phase 1b/2 trial - Nature Medicine
In a phase 1b/2 trial, an off-the-shelf vaccine using gorilla adenoviral and modified vaccinia Ankara vectors with over 200 mutated peptides known to be present in persons with mismatch-repair-deficie...
nature.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:27 PM
A vaccine to prevent colon cancer.
Proof-of-concept for strong immune response and safety via neoantigens given to people carrying mutations for Lynch syndrome
nature.com/articles/s41...
Proof-of-concept for strong immune response and safety via neoantigens given to people carrying mutations for Lynch syndrome
nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Mark Fortner
The Shingles vaccine is linked to slowing biological aging and reducing inflammation academic.oup.com/biomedgeront...
January 20, 2026 at 3:29 PM
The Shingles vaccine is linked to slowing biological aging and reducing inflammation academic.oup.com/biomedgeront...
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Reposted by Mark Fortner
✨PUBLISHED @natgenet.nature.com
📰Tamoxifen induces PI3K activation in #uterinecancer.
By Kirsten Kübler, Gad Getz, Rinath Jeselsohn and colleagues.
⬇️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📰Tamoxifen induces PI3K activation in #uterinecancer.
By Kirsten Kübler, Gad Getz, Rinath Jeselsohn and colleagues.
⬇️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Tamoxifen induces PI3K activation in uterine cancer - Nature Genetics
Sequencing analysis of tamoxifen-associated uterine cancers and further in vivo analyses suggest that the drug tamoxifen can activate the PI3K pathway in the absence of oncogenic mutations.
www.nature.com
August 27, 2025 at 1:41 PM
✨PUBLISHED @natgenet.nature.com
📰Tamoxifen induces PI3K activation in #uterinecancer.
By Kirsten Kübler, Gad Getz, Rinath Jeselsohn and colleagues.
⬇️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📰Tamoxifen induces PI3K activation in #uterinecancer.
By Kirsten Kübler, Gad Getz, Rinath Jeselsohn and colleagues.
⬇️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In silico agrees on $66M deal to split rights for preclinical NLRP3 inhibitor with new Chinese biotech
Insilico agrees on $66M deal to split rights for preclinical NLRP3 inhibitor with new Chinese biotech
Artificial-intelligence-powered drug developer Insilico Medicine is set for a $10 million upfront payment from a fresh-faced Chinese biotech for half of the rights to a brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibi | ...
www.fiercebiotech.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:35 PM
In silico agrees on $66M deal to split rights for preclinical NLRP3 inhibitor with new Chinese biotech
Blossoms from our plum tree last spring. #bloomscrolling
January 21, 2026 at 6:13 AM
Blossoms from our plum tree last spring. #bloomscrolling
Reposted by Mark Fortner
A decades-long push to identify clear biomarkers for anxiety and depression is at last achieving results.
Psychiatry has finally found an objective way to spot mental illness
A decades-long push to identify clear biomarkers for anxiety and depression is at last achieving results
www.newscientist.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:11 PM
A decades-long push to identify clear biomarkers for anxiety and depression is at last achieving results.
Reposted by Mark Fortner
In a post to Github on Tuesday, the social media giant purported to share its secret sauce.
X open sources its algorithm while facing a transparency fine and Grok controversies | TechCrunch
In a post to Github on Tuesday, the social media giant purported to share its secret sauce.
techcrunch.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:42 PM
In a post to Github on Tuesday, the social media giant purported to share its secret sauce.
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Isomorphic has signed its third pharma deal, this time with J&J, to further advance AI-made drugs.
endpoints.news/jj-isomorphi...
endpoints.news/jj-isomorphi...
Isomorphic signs another pharma deal, partnering with J&J for AI-made drugs
Google DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs partners with Johnson & Johnson in multi-target drug research deal, adding to existing Novartis and Eli Lilly collaborations.
endpoints.news
January 20, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Isomorphic has signed its third pharma deal, this time with J&J, to further advance AI-made drugs.
endpoints.news/jj-isomorphi...
endpoints.news/jj-isomorphi...
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Reposted by Mark Fortner
I built an alternative Jupyter frontend as a native Mac app. It's also reactive (no weird state issues), supports SQL as first class, has autocomplete, is uv-native amd works with agents (like an *existing* ChatGPT subscription that you already pay for)
January 18, 2026 at 7:51 PM
I built an alternative Jupyter frontend as a native Mac app. It's also reactive (no weird state issues), supports SQL as first class, has autocomplete, is uv-native amd works with agents (like an *existing* ChatGPT subscription that you already pay for)
Simple blood test can predict which breast cancer treatment will work best, study finds | #cancer #BreastCancer
Simple blood test can predict which breast cancer treatment will work best, study finds
Exclusive: DNA test means patients could be offered most effective treatment first, boosting their chances of beating the disease
www.theguardian.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Simple blood test can predict which breast cancer treatment will work best, study finds | #cancer #BreastCancer
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Millions of people worldwide carry genetic mutations that weaken their immune system. A feature in Nature reports on the research to find ways to treat and prevent severe infections in those people. #medsky 🧪
The infection enigma: why some people die from typically harmless germs
Millions of people worldwide carry genetic mutations that weaken their immune system.
go.nature.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Millions of people worldwide carry genetic mutations that weaken their immune system. A feature in Nature reports on the research to find ways to treat and prevent severe infections in those people. #medsky 🧪
DNA's hidden 'traffic controller' protein may hold clues to #cancer prevention
DNA's hidden 'traffic controller' protein may hold clues to cancer prevention
A new LUMC study has changed our understanding of how cells work. Researchers have discovered that the CFAP20 protein acts as a kind of "traffic controller" on DNA. Without this protein, chaos ensues,...
phys.org
January 18, 2026 at 3:04 PM
DNA's hidden 'traffic controller' protein may hold clues to #cancer prevention
Kids with brain #cancer were already in a life and death struggle. Then came Trump
Kids with brain cancer were already in a life and death struggle. Then came Trump
The US president vowed to ‘end childhood cancer’. But his administration is dismantling the search for a cure and sending families scrambling for treatment
www.theguardian.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Kids with brain #cancer were already in a life and death struggle. Then came Trump
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Chemist determine the structure of fuzzy coat that surrounds tau proteins | #Alzheimers #proteomics #genesky
Chemists determine structure of fuzzy coat that surrounds Tau proteins
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the clumping of proteins called Tau, which form tangled fibrils in the brain. The more severe the clumping, the more advanced the disease is.
phys.org
January 15, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Chemist determine the structure of fuzzy coat that surrounds tau proteins | #Alzheimers #proteomics #genesky
Reposted by Mark Fortner
How’s biopharma feeling heading into 2026? We asked everyone at Endpoints at #JPM26 — and the answers land somewhere between breakthrough and cautious optimism.
Follow the latest from San Francisco in our live blog: endpoints.news/jpm26-day-3-...
Follow the latest from San Francisco in our live blog: endpoints.news/jpm26-day-3-...
January 14, 2026 at 9:42 PM
How’s biopharma feeling heading into 2026? We asked everyone at Endpoints at #JPM26 — and the answers land somewhere between breakthrough and cautious optimism.
Follow the latest from San Francisco in our live blog: endpoints.news/jpm26-day-3-...
Follow the latest from San Francisco in our live blog: endpoints.news/jpm26-day-3-...
Reposted by Mark Fortner
Not good to see the rise in p-tau181, a marker of brain inflammation tied to increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, in a prospective cohort (mean age 56 years) with #LongCovid and neurological symptoms
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
January 15, 2026 at 2:19 AM
Not good to see the rise in p-tau181, a marker of brain inflammation tied to increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, in a prospective cohort (mean age 56 years) with #LongCovid and neurological symptoms
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...