COCENSYS APPOINTS LOWELL E. SEARS, CHAIRMAN; Former Amgen CFO To Be Instrumental in Company's Commercial Transition.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 1995--CoCensys, Inc. (Nasdaq: COCN) announced today that Lowell E. Sears, President, Sears Capital Management and a director of CoCensys, has been elected to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Sears joined the CoCensys Board in November 1994 and has been closely involved in the direction of the Company. Prior to joining CoCensys, Mr. Sears, 44, was Chief Financial Officer of Amgen Inc., where he was responsible for building a financial organization which supported Amgen's transition from a small R&D company to a $1.4 billion multinational pharmaceutical concern.

As Chairman, Mr. Sears will replace Robert G. McNeil, Ph.D., a founder of CoCensys, who will continue to maintain an active role as a director on the Company's Board. Dr. McNeil is currently a general partner of Sanderling Ventures, a venture capital management company.

While at Amgen, Mr. Sears raised more than $700 million in public and private market financings, and negotiated numerous strategic alliances and product licenses. In addition to his role as CFO of Amgen, from 1992 to 1994, Mr. Sears served as senior vice president, responsible for the Asia-Pacific region, where he established development, marketing and sales capabilities in a number of countries including Japan and the People's Republic of China.

"I believe that CoCensys has truly entered a new stage of development in which both the product development and marketing and sales areas will benefit immensely from a Chairman with significant pharmaceutical operating experience," said Dr. McNeil. "I am proud to have served as Chairman for such an innovative neuropharmacological Company and will remain active as a board member in guiding the Company towards its long-term corporate and scientific objectives."

"From the time CoCensys was founded in 1989, Dr. Bob McNeil has provided strong leadership to the Company. We are fortunate and grateful to have benefited so greatly from the breadth of his experience as the Company has successfully grown from its early venture capital origins into a public company with an active pipeline and product sales," commented Daniel L. Korpolinski, President and Chief Executive Officer at CoCensys. "At this stage of CoCensys' growth, we believe Mr. Sears brings the pharmaceutical operating experience that will enable the continuous advancement of CoCensys' proprietary neuropharmacological pipeline into commercialization, as well as the ongoing expansion of our current sales and marketing activities."

CoCensys is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets products to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. The Company's product development programs focus on two novel, proprietary classes of compounds: Epalons, to treat petit mal epilepsy, anxiety and sleep disorders, and Glystasins, to treat stroke and head trauma, chronic pain and grand mal epilepsy.

CONTACT: Daniel L. Korpolinski or Karen L. Bergman (Media Relations)

President and CEO  Lilian S. Stern (Investor Relations)

CoCensys, Inc. Burns McClellan, Inc.

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