What the selected team receives
- A limited ASCEND evaluation of one public PDB or AlphaFold target
- A concise structural readout with ranked opportunities and uncertainty
- A scientific review conversation and recommended next step
Human-reviewed structural intelligence
Turn static protein structures into druggable open-state decisions.
ASCEND identifies hidden pockets, models how they open, assesses ligandability, exports dockable conformers, and turns structural analysis into clear drug-discovery decisions.
SelectiveCompany-sponsored public target program
ManagedHuman-reviewed queue
Decision-readyReports + usable files
ASCEND Decision Dossier Illustrative example
Ranked siteP1
Ligandability assessmentExample: High
Opening evidenceExample: supported
Recommended handoffDock open conformer + validate
P1_open_001.pdbresidue_roles.csvvalidation_plan.md
The ASCEND way
A clear submission experience backed by scientific review.
Each request is screened for structural quality, scientific fit, data boundaries, and the decision it must support. Accepted programs move into a defined analysis plan with documented scope, deliverables, and review points.
01 Public target→02 Scientific review→03 ASCEND analysis→04 Decision package
Why managed review?
ASCEND is currently offered through controlled internal workflows. The team reviews each target for eligibility, safety, structure quality, and scientific fit before starting the backend.
Protein motion in action
Watch buried regions become reachable.
ASCEND maps a smooth closed-to-open protein transition from structural endpoints, showing how buried or inaccessible regions can become reachable during motion.
01 Closed endpoint→02 Modeled motion→03 Opening path→04 Reachable site
ASCEND Founding Target Program
A selective program for high-value public targets.
Five Stones Technologies sponsors a limited number of public-target evaluations to validate ASCEND, develop credible reference studies, and establish qualified scientific relationships. Every accepted project has a defined scope, named deliverables, and a documented value exchange.
What ASCEND receives
- Structured feedback on scientific usefulness and deliverable clarity
- Professional attribution whenever program outputs are presented or published
- Permission, agreed in writing, to develop a public or jointly authored case study
Who should apply
- Academic, nonprofit, hospital-research, public-health, and pre-seed teams
- Projects with a public structure and a focused structural question
- Commercial teams with budgets are directed to a sponsored pilot
Attribution guidance
How to credit ASCEND
Until an ASCEND software paper or DOI is assigned, use the report identifier and platform version supplied in the delivered dossier together with the company and website.
Methods / presentation citation
Structural analysis was performed using the ASCEND platform, Five Stones Technologies Inc., New York, USA (https://ascenddrugdiscovery.com; ASCEND report ID and platform version as provided).
Acknowledgment
We acknowledge Five Stones Technologies Inc. for providing an evaluation through the ASCEND Founding Target Program.
Platform engines
ASCEND Scientific Engines
Modular structural intelligence for hidden-site discovery, molecular design, induced proximity, selectivity, resistance, and allosteric decision-making.
Flagship cryptic-site decision engine
ASCEND-Pocket
ASCEND-Pocket helps drug-discovery teams evaluate proteins that appear closed, difficult to target, or structurally uncertain. Starting from a protein structure, it identifies and ranks hidden binding opportunities, assesses whether those sites are ligandable, highlights the residues and hotspots that matter, prepares usable structural handoffs, and turns the result into a clear decision package.
Instead of stopping at cavity detection, ASCEND-Pocket is designed to answer the practical question: is this hidden site worth pursuing? It organizes cryptic-pocket evidence into ranked candidates, open-state structural outputs, ligandability signals, residue-role maps, docking-ready files, and validation plans that a scientific team can use for follow-up modeling, medicinal chemistry discussion, or experimental planning.
- Ranked cryptic/druggable pocket candidates
- Pocket centers, radii, and residue neighborhoods
- Ligandability, hotspot, and residue-role evidence
- Docking-ready open conformer handoffs
- Pocket package for downstream molecule design
- Scientific validation plan and go/no-go decision support
ASCEND expands from cryptic-pocket discovery into a broader drug-discovery decision platform. Select an engine to view detail.
Resolution-lift and structure-repair workflows for simplified or coarse-grained protein models, producing all-atom structures suitable for downstream structural analysis.
Backbone RMSD
Side-chain RMSD
Heavy-atom RMSD
Internal 265-frame benchmark; lower RMSD is better.
Pocket-to-molecule workflows that turn pocket evidence, open conformers, and hotspot constraints into ligand hypotheses and design-ready exports.
Induced-proximity analysis for molecular glue and ternary-complex concepts, helping teams ask whether a small molecule could bring two proteins together productively.
Protein-pair and interface screening for induced-proximity opportunities, used to prioritize where glue-like strategies may be worth exploring.
Distal-site analysis for identifying regions that may influence a functional pocket or control a protein state from a distance.
Structural comparison of target and off-target opportunities to identify pocket features, conformers, or interaction patterns that may support selectivity.
Resistance and durability analysis that explores how mutations or structural changes may weaken a binding strategy before expensive follow-up work begins.
Products and workflows
Start with one report. Expand into the full platform.
ASCEND Open-State Pack
For teams that need dockable open conformers from static protein structures.
- Prepared open-state PDBs
- Docking grid metadata
- Conformer quality scores
- Pocket residue table
ASCEND Cryptic-State Decision Dossier
For teams evaluating hidden, allosteric, or difficult-to-target binding states.
- Ranked cryptic/allosteric pockets
- Motion-supported opening evidence
- Ligandability and uncertainty scoring
- Residue roles, hotspots, and validation plan
ASCEND Pocket-to-Design Pack
For teams ready to move from pocket intelligence to candidate molecule hypotheses.
- Pocket package handoff
- Hotspot-constrained design inputs
- Fragment and molecule scoring
- Design-ready exports
ASCEND Africa & Caribbean Target Report
For regional and global-health programs addressing malaria, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, viral disease, neglected diseases, and other locally important targets.
- Africa- and Caribbean-relevant target prioritization
- Grant-ready figures and reports
- Validation suggestions for partner labs
- Training and collaboration-ready outputs
What users receive
Files scientists can actually use.
ASCEND outputs are designed for decisions, not decoration: reports, PDBs, CSVs, JSON packages, and validation plans.
Start with a public targetranked_pockets.csv
ligandability_report.pdf
P1_open_001_prepared.pdb
P1_docking_grid.json
residue_roles.csv
hotspot_map.json
chemotype_suggestions.json
validation_plan.md
decision_dossier.pdf
Access modes
Engagement models for targets, programs, and partnerships.
Founding Target Program
Selective company-sponsored evaluations for eligible public targets, with defined attribution, feedback, and case-study terms.
Sponsored Pilot
A defined commercial scope, timeline, deliverables, and scientific review for one or more targets.
Confidential Program
An NDA-first pathway for proprietary targets, protected files, unpublished structures, or custom analyses.
Institutional Collaboration
A structured pathway for universities, hospitals, foundations, translational groups, and grant-supported programs.
Collaborations
For biotechnology teams, pharmaceutical innovators, research institutions, and global-health partners.
ASCEND supports scoped collaborations, sponsored pilots, public-target evaluations, confidential programs, and scientific training. We welcome biotechnology companies, startups, universities, hospitals, foundations, and public-health organizations working across computational chemistry, structural biology, molecular modeling, and translational drug discovery.
Built in New York for global collaboration, with a particular commitment to scientific capacity and drug-discovery partnerships across Africa and the Caribbean.
Managed scientific intake
Choose the right way to begin.
Every request enters human scientific screening before any ASCEND computation begins. The public website accepts no files and no confidential, regulated, patient-identifiable, export-controlled, or proprietary information.
Submission recorded
Your ASCEND request ID is .
Your request entered scientific screening. No computation has started.
Save this ID. It is stored with your submission and should be included in future correspondence. ASCEND will reply using the work email provided.
FAQ
Clear boundaries build trust.
Does public intake automatically run the backend?
No. Public requests enter a managed review queue. The team reviews each request before initiating the ASCEND backend workflow.
Can users send confidential targets?
Not through the public form. Confidential work requires a written agreement and a protected partner workflow.
How is ASCEND currently delivered?
ASCEND is offered through defined scientific engagements powered by internal structural-analysis engines. The engagement model, scope, deliverables, timing, and data pathway are confirmed before work begins.
How is ASCEND different from a public server?
ASCEND combines a simple target-submission experience with curated scientific review, modular engines, and decision-ready deliverables.