Nasdaq May Stop Listing Irvine’s CoCensys

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. To escape being dropped, its stock must close above $1 for 10 consecutive trading days by Feb. 28. CoCensys stock, which hit $4.56 a share on Dec. 10, 1997, has been below $1 since Oct. 16. It closed Friday at 63 cents, unchanged. The company has struggled to find corporate partners to help develop its experimental treatments, and reported recently that tests on humans showed its drug ganaxolone was ineffective at relieving migraine headaches. Chairman F. Richard Nichol said CoCensys continues to seek research partners and has enough cash to carry it through the coming year.