neurodegenerative-disease
(5)
Cognito Therapeutics, Inc.
Cognito Therapeutics is a Cambridge, Massachusetts clinical-stage neurotechnology company spun out of MIT that develops non-invasive, wearable therapy for neurodegenerative disease. Its lead product, Spectris, delivers precise gamma-frequency light and sound stimulation through connected glasses and headphones to evoke gamma brain oscillations, with the goal of slowing cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer's disease. Spectris AD holds FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and is being evaluated in the HOPE Study, described as the largest medical device trial focused solely on Alzheimer's disease.
PAQ Therapeutics
PAQ Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company in Burlington, Massachusetts developing a new class of small-molecule degraders that harness autophagy, the body's natural cellular recycling system, to destroy disease-causing proteins. Its proprietary ATTEC (autophagosome-tethering compound) platform aims to eliminate targets that traditional inhibitors cannot reach. The company's lead programs are KRAS degraders - PT0253, a selective KRAS G12D degrader, and PT0511, a pan-KRAS degrader - both in Phase 1 clinical trials for lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancers driven by KRAS mutations.
Amprion
Amprion is a precision-diagnostics company using Seed Amplification Assay (SAA) technology to detect misfolded proteins - alpha-synuclein, amyloid-beta and tau - in cerebrospinal fluid, giving physicians and drug developers a biological readout of neurodegenerative disease years before symptoms fully emerge. Its flagship SAAmplify-aSYN test (formerly SYNTap) is the first commercially available validated alpha-synuclein SAA, carries an FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, and aims to replace symptom-based guesswork for Parkinson's, Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer's and multiple system atrophy with autopsy-grade certainty.
JuneBrain Inc.
JuneBrain Inc. is a Baltimore medtech startup building a wearable, AI-powered eye-scanning system that brings optical coherence tomography (OCT) out of the eye clinic and into neurology, primary care, and the home. Its flagship Neuro-i SS-OCT captures high-resolution retinal images without a technician, and its AI software turns those images into quantitative biomarkers clinicians can use to monitor diseases like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's between visits. Founded in 2017 by neuroscientist Samantha Scott after her own diagnosis with a neuromuscular disorder, the company is a WBENC-certified women-owned business on track for FDA submission in 2026.
Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.
Sangamo Therapeutics is a clinical-stage genomic medicine company in Brisbane, California that engineers zinc finger proteins to switch genes on, off, or rewrite them. After three decades pioneering zinc finger technology, it is racing to bring its lead gene therapy ST-920 for Fabry disease to market while building a neurology pipeline aimed at crossing the blood-brain barrier - all under the pressure of a 2026 search for strategic alternatives.