Cocensys Inc

CoCensys Inc. said Thursday that the Parke-Davis division of Warner-Lambert Co. will phase out marketing and patient support programs for the Alzheimer's drug Cognex, but the companies are negotiating for a replacement product. A Warner-Lambert spokesman said Parke-Davis is terminating the program because of reduced demand for the CoCensys drug. Parke-Davis said it will continue to make Cognex available.

Purdue Pharma said Friday that it completed its tender offer to buy all outstanding common shares of struggling Irvine biomedical company CoCensys Inc. for $1.16 a share in cash. A total of 5.9 million CoCensys shares have been tendered, which would give Purdue about 91.4% of the total when preferred shares are converted as well. Purdue, a pharmaceutical company based in Norwalk, Conn., said it intends to merge CoCensys into its Purdue Acquisition Corp. unit.

The Irvine biopharmaceutical company said it lost $1.1 million, or 34 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $3.6 million, or $1.32 a share, for the like period last year. The net loss for the 1999 period included a restructuring charge of $2.2 million in connection with the termination of 53 of the company's 91 employees. It also included a gain of $3.3 million on the sale of its interest in Cytovia Inc. Revenue rose 35% to $572,000.

The Irvine biopharmaceutical company said it lost $1.1 million, or 34 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $3.6 million, or $1.32 a share, for the like period last year. The net loss for the 1999 period included a restructuring charge of $2.2 million in connection with the termination of 53 of the company's 91 employees. It also included a gain of $3.3 million on the sale of its interest in Cytovia Inc. Revenue rose 35% to $572,000.

CoCensys Inc., an Irvine pharmaceutical company, reported a net loss of $629,000, or 3 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $5.8 million, or 36 cents a share, for the comparable period last year. Revenue rose to $6.9 million from $1.9 million. For the six-month period, the net loss was $6.2 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $11.5 million, or 74 cents a share. Revenue increased to $8.6 million from $2.1 million.

CoCensys Inc.'s common stock was delisted from the Nasdaq national market, the Irvine company said Wednesday. The stock had failed to sustain the $1 minimum price required for continued listing on the national market. The shares traded on the lower profile over-the-counter market, closing Wednesday at 81 cents. CoCensys develops products for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

CoCensys Inc., the struggling Irvine biomedical company, said Tuesday that it will undertake a corporate restructuring that, among other things, will cost 34 Orange County workers their jobs. The news comes on the heels of another quarterly loss for the company, this time amounting to $2.8 million. The job cuts represent nearly 40% of the company's staff of 91 employees.

Stock of CoCensys Inc., a struggling biomedical company in Irvine, resumed trading Tuesday following an investigation by the Nasdaq stock market into unusual trading activity. CoCensys shares, which stopped trading Thursday at 22 cents, closed Tuesday at the same price. Nasdaq halted trading in the stock to investigate a report that 100 CoCensys shares had sold March 31 at 6 cents a share, far less than the market price. The company knew of no explanation for the unusual trade.

CoCensys Inc., a struggling Irvine biomedical company, said Friday that the Nasdaq stock market halted trading of its stock apparently because of an unusual $6 trade last week. CoCensys Chairman F. Richard Nichol said the investigation was triggered March 31, when 100 shares of CoCensys sold at 6 cents apiece. At the time, he said, Nasdaq's computers showed buyers were willing to pay nearly four times as much, and the company notified Nasdaq of the irregular price.

Two Orange County companies that are facing the loss of their stock listings on the Nasdaq National Market are appealing to market officials. Both L.L. Knickerbocker Co. in Lake Forest and CoCensys Inc. in Irvine have been warned by Nasdaq that their stocks may be delisted because the prices have fallen below $1 a share. Knickerbocker, whose shares were once among the hottest performers in the market, said it has asked Nasdaq for a hearing to argue for continued listing.

Nasdaq officials are threatening to drop CoCensys Inc. from the national market listings because its stock price has fallen below $1 a share, the Irvine company said Friday. CoCensys, which develops treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders, said it meets all other requirements for Nasdaq listing, and is considering a reverse stock split to reduce the number of shares and increase their price.

Research headaches continue at CoCensys Inc. The Irvine developer of experimental treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders said recently that its drug ganaxolone had no "statistically significant" effect in relieving pain for acute-migraine sufferers in a clinical trial that included 325 patients at 19 clinics across the nation.