CoCensys’ Longtime CEO Leaves for Own Venture

IRVINE —  CoCensys Inc. said Wednesday that its longtime chief executive officer resigned to pursue a pet venture that didn’t fit with the biotech company’s own business.

Daniel L. Korpolinski, 54, who had been chief executive five years, said he wants to start a company selling software that would assist doctors and managed care companies in monitoring patient care.

“It’ll take a lot of effort to get it off the ground, and I didn’t think it was fair to also preside over CoCensys,” Korpolinski said.

Lowell E. Sears, CoCensys’ chairman, said Korpolinski has championed the business idea for two years and at first applied it to markets for products sold by CoCensys.

When the fledgling business began to expand to other areas, “we came to realize that it was beyond that scope of where CoCensys was positioned as a drug discovery, development and marketing company,” Sears said.

The company considered, then dropped, the idea of making Korpolinski the president of a new division that would have pursued his business idea. Korpolinski said CoCensys even discussed making a public stock offering to finance his pursuits, but rejected that idea too.

Korpolinski said Wednesday that he aims to raise several million dollars to launch his company. CoCensys will be a partner, but its investment will be limited to the donation of databases and other assets developed during Korpolinski’s tenure at CoCensys.

The company also said that three executives have been appointed to a newly created office of the president to run CoCensys until a successor is named. The three are Dr. David A. H. Lee, executive vice president of research and development; Dr. Eckard Weber, senior vice president of drug discovery; and Peter E. Jansen, vice president and chief financial officer.

During his five years as chief executive, Korpolinski presided over CoCensys’ growth from a company consisting of seven USC research scientists to a business with 160 employees involved in scientific discovery, research and development, and sales and marketing. CoCensys develops and markets products to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders.

John McCamant, associate editor of Medical Technology Stock Letter in San Francisco, said Korpolinski led the development of the company’s clinical studies program, as well as sales of drugs licensed from other companies.

McCamant noted that running a biotech company is more than a full-time job, adding, “I wouldn’t want to invest in a company where the CEO isn’t putting in 100% of his time and effort.”