CoCensys Inc.: The Irvine bio-pharmaceuticals company has...

CoCensys Inc.: The Irvine bio-pharmaceuticals company has named Lowell E. Sears as its new chairman, effective immediately. Sears, who has served on the company’s board since November, succeeds CoCensys founder Robert G. McNeil, who will remain a director. Sears, 44, previously served as chief financial officer of Amgen Inc., a $1.4-billion multinational pharmaceutical company. CoCensys, founded in 1989, develops and markets products to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders.