Big changes have been announced in the boardroom at Cambridge Cognition, the recently AIM-listed company which specialises in tests for the early detection of dementia

Ruth Keir, chief executive, and David Blair, chief financial officer, have both resigned, with their places taken by Nick Kerton and Nick Walters.

Dr Kerton became a non-executive director of the company prior to listing and is reported to have significant experience in management positions within the healthcare sector and in delivering investor returns.

Most recently he led the Sirigen Group from initial venture capital funding in 2008 through to the sale of the business in August 2012, delivering a return to investors of between 2.5x-4x on their original investment. He was commercial director within the management team which established Celsis Internationalin Cambridge, which was one of the first biotech companies to float on the London Stock Exchange. He also led the successful sale of Maybridge to Fisher Scientific International and founded Lab21 (a molecular diagnostics service).

Nick Walters, a chartered accountant, worked closely with Dr Kerton at Sirigen Group and Maybridge.

The Company will be announcing its interim results for the six months ended June 30 on September 18.

Jane Worlock, chairman, said: “Ruth and David leave the business at the end of the month with our best wishes and gratitude for their contribution to establishing the firm footing on which we today stand and for their tireless work in leading us through to a successful admission to AIM.

“As we move into the next phase of our development the time was right for Ruth and David to hand over the reins to a new management team who will lead the company through its next stage of development and growth.

“Our two core businesses in the academic and pharmaceutical clinical trials sectors are considered industry leaders, while CANTABmobile, our mobile solution for the early detection of dementia in primary healthcare environments, continues to gather traction.

“Nick Kerton has significant experience of driving forward companies and products at this stage in their development and we are excited by our prospects under his leadership. I am therefore very pleased that both Nick Kerton and Nick Walters have accepted these appointments and look forward to working with them.”

Dr Kerton said: “Cambridge Cognition is an outstanding business and recognised by its peers for the quality of its team and products.”

Cambridge Cognition has its roots in the laboratories of Cambridge University, specifically in the work of professors Barbara Sakanian and Trevor Robbins and their teams.

They developed a cognition test using shapes rather than a verbal test, to overcome language barriers.

Originally, the professors threw in their lot with CeNeS, a listed Cambridge company run by Alan Goodman and Dan Roach. What became Cambridge Cognition was spun-out in early 2000 by Jean and John Hammond.

Today, the tests are used all over the world.