Mark Mortenson ’80 participates in Nasdaq closing bell ceremony

Alfred University alumnus Mark Mortenson ’80, co-founder and chief science officer at Clene Nanomedicine, Inc., was among those participating in the Nasdaq closing bell ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

In 2013, Mortenson co-founded Clene Nanomedicine, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on revolutionizing the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. He is co-inventor of the technology platform developed to produce the company’s Clean-Surface Nanocrystal therapeutics and is the inventor or co-inventor of 30 other U.S. patents. The company is based in Salt Lake City, UT, with R&D and manufacturing operations in Maryland.

To mark the company’s one-year anniversary of its Nasdaq listing, Robert Etherington, Clene CEO and president, rang Nasdaq’s closing bell during a virtual ceremony on Tuesday. Etherington was accompanied by members of his team at Clene, including Mortenson.

Clene’s lead drug candidate, CNM-Au8, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 3 registration trial for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In August, Clene announced it had achieved positive top-line results from the Phase 2 REPAIR clinical trials investigating the improvement of brain energetic metabolism in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective of the REPAIR clinical trial program is to demonstrate the effects of CNM-Au8, on brain energy metabolites in two sister studies of patients with Parkinson’s and MS.

Mortenson earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering and physics from Alfred University in 1980 and was named recipient of the Outstanding Senior Award. He went on to earn a master’s degree in materials science from Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from George Washington University.