Cris Arnou, MSE, MBA
Co-Founder and CEO

Cris Arnou is AgoneX Biopharmaceuticals Inc. Co-Founder and CEO. As a migraine sufferer for more than 35 years he is determined and committed to implementing the migraine treatment and prevention throughout the U.S. via existing medical offices.
In the past, Mr. Arnou has worked for two start-up companies and knows what it takes to build a successful, prosperous business. Additionally, Cris spent 10 years working at Ford Motor Company covering different aspects of product development, marketing and product launch.
Cris holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MBA from Wayne State University in Detroit. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army.

Robert P. Cowan, MD, FAAN
Co-Founder, Director

Robert Cowan, MD, FAAN is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Headache Program at Stanford University. Prior to coming to Stanford, he was the founding medical director of the Keeler Center for the Study of Headache (Ojai, CA) and senior clinical research scientist in molecular neurobiology at Huntington Medical Research Institutes (Pasadena, CA). Dr. Cowan attended University of Southern California, Keck Medical School, completed a residency program at USC Department of Neurology and served on faculty there until 2000. He is Board Certified in the areas of: Psychiatry and Neurology and Pain Medicine. He also holds subspecialty certification in Headache Medicine.  Dr. Cowan is widely published in various scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association Cephalalgia, and Headache as well as authoring books, book chapters and scientific presentations. Dr. Cowan lectures both nationally and internationally on a variety of headache topics, and has appeared on NBC, CBS and has been featured in articles ranging from the San Francisco Chronicle to Vogue Magazine.

Dr. Cowan holds several nationally elected positions, including chair of the section on Chronic Daily Headache for the American Headache Society. He is immediate past-President of the Headache Cooperative of the Pacific, is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society. He is on the boards of the Alliance for Headache Diseases Advocacy, the Headache Cooperative of the Pacific, the American Headache and Migraine Association, and the American Council for Headache Education. He is an editor of Headache Currents, a reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals, including Headache, Cephalalgia, and the Western Journal of Medicine. Dr. Cowan is the author of The Keeler Migraine Method (Penguin/Avery, 2008).

Along with Dr. Alan Rapoport, Professor of Neurology at UCLA School of Medicine, Dr. Cowan co-founded Bon Triage, LLC that develops computer-based tools to aid in the diagnosis, education, and care of people with chronic medical conditions. Before medical school Dr. Cowan founded and subsequently sold Continuing Health Education Systems, one of the first computer-based CME programs.

Dr. Cowan’s primary interest is in improvement of headache care, utilizing novel resources to provide more accurate diagnosis, more effective treatment options while reducing delays in service and decreasing costs. He has been the recipient of NIH, foundation, industry and individual grants and gifts for his research, in excess of 6M dollars. His current research focuses on chronic daily headache, including resting state imaging with fMRI, CSF and whole blood analysis, deep phenotyping, TMS, and electrophysiologic measures.

 

Robert W. Cook
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Cook is an international banking and finance specialist with over 40 years’ experience in executive management as a chief financial officer of publicly-held small cap companies, primarily in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and has provided consultant services to managements and boards of public and private companies with respect to corporate finance issues, particularly pre- and post-IPO financing opportunities.  In addition to his financial consulting practice, Mr. Cook is currently serving as Chief Financial Officer of Cheetah Net Supply Chain Service Inc. after assisting the company in successfully completing its initial public offering in August 2023.  He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of RenovaCare, Inc. from June 2020 to April 2021, CorMedix Inc. from February 2017 through January 2020, BioBlast Pharma Ltd. from January 2016 through July 2016, and Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. from April 2014 to January 2016.  Mr. Cook was Chief Financial Officer and a Member of the Board of Directors of Immune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from August 2013 to March 2014, and Chief Financial Officer of its predecessor EpiCept Corporation from April 2004 to August 2013, including one year as CEO and Member of the Board in which he completed the reverse merger of EpiCept into Immune. Previously, he served as Executive VP and CFO of publicly-held Pharmos Corporation from December 1997 to March 2004.  Mr. Cook also spent 18 years at The Chase Manhattan Bank, including a seven-year tour of Asia during which he was managing director of the bank’s Hong Kong-based investment banking unit.  Mr. Cook graduated magna cum laude from The American University, Washington, DC, with a B.S. in Finance.

 

J. Christopher Lynch, JD
Acting General Counsel

Chris has spent most of his career as a strategic legal advisor to company founders, board members, executives, and investors, primarily for companies in the information technology, life sciences, and medical device industries. His deep experience with companies in those industries helps him bring a practical, efficient business perspective to his legal work. Chris often serves as outside general counsel for these companies, and his practice includes a high volume of seed and venture capital financings, private placements, and mergers & acquisitions for his clients. He is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law where he teaches a course on venture finance law. Prior to joining the firm in 1992, Chris practiced at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the largest law firm in Silicon Valley, where he worked with various technology-based companies.

He graduated from the University of Virginia, receiving his B.A., with honors, and from Harvard Law School, receiving his J.D., cum laude.

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP: https://www.wyrick.com/people/j-christopher-lynch