Irvine’s Cortex Asks New Chief to Find Partner

Cortex Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that it has named a former pharmaceutical executive as its new chairman to help the tiny firm find a major drug company for a partner.

Harvey S. Sadow is the new head of the 4-year-old company that develops drugs to reduce brain and memory disorders stemming from strokes and Alzheimer’s disease. He was president and chief executive of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., a large Ridgefield, Conn., pharmaceutical firm, until January, 1988. He served as the firm’s chairman until last December.

In addition to his work at Boehringer Ingelheim, Sadow, 68, has served on the board of directors of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn., an industry trade group.

“Our internal business strategy is to establish a partnership with a major pharmaceutical company to look after clinical trials and marketing and such,” said D. Scott Hagen, Cortex’s vice president of finance and administration. “That’s why Dr. Sadow is particularly important to us.”

Cortex, which has about 20 employees, was founded by three neuroscientists from UC Irvine in 1987, but it hasn’t had much success so far. The company went public in July, 1989, at a price of $1.63 a share.

On Tuesday, Cortex’s stock was unchanged, closing at 44 cents a share.