Cognito Therapeutics Names New CEO

Cognito Therapeutics has appointed Christian Howell as CEO to succeed Brent Vaughan, who has led the company for the past four years.

“As one of the fastest-growing diseases in America, what we do next to address the many impacts of Alzheimer’s disease will be critical. Christian’s leadership at Cognito has fostered a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the entire organization,” Cognito Therapeutics Board Member Dr. Rick Kuntz said. “His patient-first mentality in the development of this therapy makes him the ideal next leader for Cognito, as the company advances a new therapy for the millions of patients impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.”
 
Howell joined Cognito last fall as chief commercial officer. As Cognito nears enrollment completion in the HOPE pivotal study for Spectris, its lead disease-modifying candidate for Alzheimer’s disease, Howell’s extensive commercialization expertise will be ideally suited to the role as the company focuses on the steps needed to make this therapy accessible to Alzheimer’s patients.
 
“Christian is an exceptional strategic leader with a proven track record in medical device launches, and I look forward to working closely with him as we position Cognito for this next phase of growth,” said Gerald Chan, ScD., Morningside founder and Cognito Therapeutics board chairman. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Brent for his leadership of Cognito and in building the company from a promising startup into the leading neurotechnology company it is today.”

Howell has more than 20 years of expertise in medical devices, where he navigated responsibilities in business development, commercial leadership, product management, market development, and strategy. Before joining Cognito, he was senior vice president and general manager of Aetion’s Medical Device and Diagnostic Group. In this role, he was responsible for the commercialization of Aetion’s real-world evidence platform to the medical device and diagnostics industry. During his nearly 15-year tenure at Medtronic, he led the company’s Value-Based Health Care Partnerships organization, as well as P&L responsibility for Medtronic’s Integrated Health Solutions program to improve delivery of care and patient experience with partner health systems.
 
“I am honored to take on the role of CEO at Cognito, a company that is at the forefront of innovation in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,” Howell stated. “Our mission is to improve the lives of patients and families affected by neurodegenerative diseases. I am committed to leading with a focus on the needs and well-being of those we serve, ensuring that every decision we make is aligned with our core values of serving patients.”
 
Cognito Therapeutics is a late clinical-stage neurotechnology company dedicated to developing transformative disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Cognito’s proprietary approach targets dysregulated network activity in the brain and has shown meaningful outcomes in Alzheimer’s patients. Cognito’s lead product, Spectris, employs a proprietary non-invasive method designed to evoke increased gamma frequency brain activity using auditory and visual neuromodulation to slow the rate of brain atrophy and loss of brain function. Cognito’s mission is to develop a new class of technology-based therapeutic interventions to transform the lives of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Cognito is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.