Company Interview / Cogstate targeting brain health boom

Brad O'Connor from Cogstate outlines a rapidly expanding market for digital brain health tools in clinical trials, particularly across central nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, mood disorders and sleep conditions. O'Connor states that Cogstate provides proprietary digital cognitive assessments plus services to ensure accuracy, and estimates the company holds roughly 15–20% of its addressable market. Over the past six months, Cogstate has signed just under US$42 million of future contracts, with the market for CNS R&D projected, in O'Connor’s view, to grow at a double‑digit rate over the next decade.

O'Connor attributes record results in FY25 and the first half of FY26 to rising R&D spend from large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and Cogstate’s expansion into new indications. He highlights growing momentum in depression, broader psychiatry and sleep trials, alongside a strong pipeline through the June half. In Alzheimer’s, O'Connor points to recently approved disease‑modifying therapies and increased phase 2 activity, with pharma groups now targeting pre‑symptomatic patients.

Technology remains a key differentiator. O'Connor stresses Cogstate’s proprietary digital tools and AI models trained on thousands of clinical assessments to detect errors and improve efficiency. Partnerships with major clinical trial technology providers such as Medidata are seen as crucial to accessing larger customer bases. On $CGS, O'Connor notes an active share buyback, improved trading levels versus a year ago, and expects share price performance to track ongoing revenue and cash flow growth.

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