If at first you don't succeed

CoCensys Inc. continues to hunt for clinical and business strategies to keep the company alive despite failing to achieve the positive clinical data that would have signaled a change in its fortunes. COCN last week announced that much-anticipated Phase II data for its CCD 1042 ganaxolone epalon GABA receptor modulator in acute migraine did not reach statistical significance.

While positive data would have allowed COCN (Irvine, Calif.) to find a partner for ganaxolone on terms that might have provided funding for its other internal programs, the results(see B9) have prompted the company to look for a partner for all of its programs and to spin out its clinical trial management personnel into a separate majority-owned subsidiary...