Veravas names Michael Willoughby CEO

Veravas appointed healthcare executive Michael Willoughby as chief executive officer effective Oct. 19, 2026, replacing cofounder John Forrest, who will stay on the board. The Austin diagnostics company also named board member Aaron Chalekian chairman as it pushes toward commercializing earlier Alzheimer’s testing.

Why it matters: - Veravas is moving into a new leadership phase as it works to turn its Alzheimer’s diagnostics science into a commercial business. - The leadership change comes as the company focuses on earlier and more informative testing for neurological disease.

What happened: - Veravas named Michael Willoughby chief executive officer, effective Oct. 19, 2026. - Cofounder John Forrest is stepping down as CEO but will remain on the Board of Directors. - Board member Aaron Chalekian was named chairman. - Veravas is based in Austin, Texas, and focuses on early detection and prognostic screening for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions.

The details: - Willoughby has more than 25 years of experience in diagnostics, genomics and healthcare services. - He founded GX Sciences, a molecular diagnostics laboratory that he scaled and sold to Fagron Genomics US. - He previously served as vice president of remote operations at Clinical Pathology Laboratories, where he led the Southwest division. - That business had about $300 million in annual revenue and more than 1,500 employees. - Willoughby works with key opinion leaders in neurology and personalized medicine, including physicians specializing in Alzheimer’s disease. - Chalekian has been on the Veravas board since 2025 and is vice president of R&D at Boston Scientific. - Chalekian said Willoughby brings diagnostics industry experience, commercial focus and operational leadership to guide Veravas through its next stage of growth. - Willoughby said Veravas has an opportunity to address the need for earlier, more informative diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease. - Willoughby said his focus will be on translating the team’s scientific progress into commercial execution, building clinical relationships and preparing the business to scale. - Veravas says its proprietary VeraBIND technology turns challenging sample types into measurable biomarkers. - The company says the platform is designed to support earlier disease detection and the development of novel diagnostic tests. - Veravas says its VeraBIND Tau assay is a first-in-class blood-based test that measures the pathological activity of hyperphosphorylated tau in blood samples from cognitively normal individuals or people experiencing cognitive impairment. - Veravas says the test may be used to aid in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. - The company invites readers to learn more at Veravas.com and follow it on LinkedIn.

Between the lines: - The appointment suggests Veravas is prioritizing commercialization and operational scale over pure research-stage development. - Moving a founder into board service while bringing in an operator with diagnostics experience often signals a push toward broader market adoption. - The chairman role also shifts more governance responsibility to a board member with healthcare industry experience.

What's next: - Veravas says the leadership transition is part of its strategy and anticipated milestones, though it did not outline a timeline in the release. - The company will likely focus on clinical relationships, commercialization and scaling as Willoughby takes over. - Veravas notes that its forward-looking plans are subject to risks and uncertainties that could affect results.

The bottom line: - Veravas has installed an experienced diagnostics executive to lead its next phase as it tries to convert Alzheimer’s testing technology into a commercial product.