Rudolph Tanzi to Chair Cognos’ Neurodegenerative Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board

Cognos Therapeutics has appointed Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi as chairman of its Neurodegenerative Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board (SAB).

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Tanzi to our team,” Cognos Therapeutics CEO Frank Adell said. “His unparalleled expertise and innovative research will be invaluable as we work towards transforming the landscape of Alzheimer’s treatment.”

Dr. Tanzi has more than four decades of expertise in Alzheimer’s research. Dr. Tanzi’s career includes serving as the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, director of the McCance Center for Brain Health, and co-director of the Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. His groundbreaking research has led to the identification of key genes linked to Alzheimer’s, such as APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, ADAM10 and CD33, providing critical insights into the genetic components of the disease. 

Cognos is pioneering the SINNAIS technology, which delivers drugs locally with metronomic dosing and real-time biofeedback capabilities, all supported by cloud connectivity and artificial intelligence (AI). The company is also developing a second-generation version of SINNAIS aimed at Alzheimer’s treatment, utilizing micro-dialysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) technology to target beta-amyloid concentrations.
 
The company has successfully completed the proof of concept for SINNAIS, demonstrating that SINNAIS it meets design specifications in live large survival animal models. SINNAIS delivers drugs locally and metronomically through cloud connectivity. Additionally, the company has held a series of meetings with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prepare for the PMA filing process using an expedited path that shortens approval to two years and requires no human clinical trials, only GLP animal studies. The initial disease models for human clinical trials will focus on leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, glioblastoma multiforme, and pancreatic cancer.
 
Dr. Tanzi aims to apply his extensive findings to help enhance the effectiveness of the SINNAIS technology in clinical trials. His research has helped shape the amyloid cascade hypothesis, emphasizing the role of beta-amyloid deposition in Alzheimer’s pathology and the importance of microglia in maintaining brain health. Furthermore, Dr. Tanzi and team’s development of Alzheimer’s in a Dish, a mini human brain organoid that recreates decades of Alzheimer’s neuropathology in just six weeks, has revolutionized drug discovery. 
 
Dr. Tanzi will advise Cognos how to leverage these findings in therapies using the Cognos SINNAIS to measure beta-amyloid concentrations, siphon CSF, and filter out amyloid and other protein debris. The objective is to establish a viable treatment pathway that could lead to the first mainstream therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, aiming to maintain and potentially reduce beta-amyloid levels in patients to prevent progression of disease.
 
Additional members of SAB who will work closely with Dr. Tanzi are Cognos Therapeutics Co-Founder Dr. Roger Kornberg, a biochemist and professor of structural biology at Stanford and a 2006 Nobel laureate; and Dr. Thomas Chen, a co-founder and chairman of Cognos Neurology and Oncology Advisory board.
 
Cognos Therapeutics is a medical technology company creating advanced implantable pump devices for neurological and oncological indications. It develops devices that adjust the course of therapeutics for treating and mitigating disease models where current technology does not provide an effective solution. Cognos was formed in 2015 in connection with a spin-out transaction by Pharmaco-Kinesis Corporation, a private company that developed a platform technology for implantable metronomic pumps.