8-K

                          SECURITIES EXCHANGE AND COMMISSION

                               Washington, D. C.  20549

                                           

                                       FORM 8-K

                                    CURRENT REPORT


                        Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                           Securities Exchange Act of 1934


                                    APRIL 29, 1997
                   Date of Report (DATE OF EARLIEST EVENT REPORTED)




                                    COCENSYS, INC.
                (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


                                       DELAWARE
                    (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)


              0-20954                                    33-0538836
      (Commission File Number)                (IRS Employer Identification No.)



                                 213 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE
                               IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92718
                (Address of principal executive offices and zip code)


                                    (714) 753-6100
                 (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)




Item 5.  OTHER EVENTS.

    On April 29, 1997, CoCensys, Inc. (the "Company") announced that Novartis 
Pharma A.G. decided not to participate further in the development of ACEA 
1021, CoCensys' compound for the treatment of stroke and traumatic brain 
injury. The decision was influenced by preliminary results from a recently 
completed Phase I safety trial.  The research and development agreement 
between the Company and Novartis will conclude in October 1997.  A copy of 
the press release, dated April 29, 1997, is attached as an exhibit hereto.

Item 7.  FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS.

(c) EXHIBITS.


Exhibit
Number        Description
- -------       -----------
99.1          Press Release, titled "CoCensys and Novartis End Collaboration
              on Development of Stroke Compound," dated April 29, 1997.



                                     2.




                                      SIGNATURE

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.


                                  COCENSYS, INC.


Dated:  May 2, 1997               By:  /s/ Peter E. Jansen               
                                     -----------------------------------------
                                     Peter E. Jansen
                                     Vice President and Chief Financial Officer



                                    3.



                                    EXHIBIT INDEX

      
Exhibit                                                       Sequentially
Number        Description                                     Numbered Page
- -------       -----------                                     -------------
99.1          Press Release, titled "CoCensys and                   5
              Novartis End Collaboration on Development 
              of Stroke Compound," dated April 29, 1997 

EX-99.1

                                                                Exhibit 99.1



                       COCENSYS AND NOVARTIS END COLLABORATION
                          ON DEVELOPMENT OF STROKE COMPOUND

                        COCENSYS TO SEEK NEW CORPORATE PARTNER


IRVINE, California/PR Newswire/April 29, 1997 - CoCensys, Inc. (Nasdaq: 
COCN), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and 
commercialization of drugs for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric 
disorders, and Novartis Pharma A.G. (formerly Ciba and Sandoz) announced 
today that Novartis has decided not to participate further in the development 
of ACEA 1021, CoCensys' compound for the treatment of stroke and traumatic 
brain injury. ACEA 1021 had been licensed to Ciba.  The decision was 
influenced by preliminary results from a recently completed Phase I safety 
trial.

ACEA 1021, an antagonist of the glycine site of the NMDA receptor, has been 
studied in a series of Phase I clinical trials.  The drug has been given to 
82 healthy volunteers and 60 stroke patients by short intravenous infusion 
and by infusion for up to 24 hours.  There has been no evidence in any of the 
trials of the dose-limiting CNS side effects, such as hallucinations, 
delirium, agitation and cardiovascular effects, that have been reported with 
some other experimental drugs for these indications.  However, preliminary 
results from the most recent trial showed crystals of ACEA 1021 in the urine 
of some of the subjects.  This is a potentially dose-limiting effect that 
CoCensys will continue to evaluate.

F. Richard Nichol, Ph.D., CoCensys President and Chief Executive Officer, 
said, "Based on published information on other compounds with similar 
characteristics, we believe there may be ways to limit such side effects."  
More specifically, Dr. Nichol said the company is exploring the 
co-administration of probenecid, an approved, commercially available drug 
that blocks the secretion of weak acids, such as ACEA 1021, through the 
kidneys.  Probenecid is successfully used in conjunction with other drugs 
already.  And because it may prevent the excretion of the drug by the 
kidneys, ACEA 1021's primary route of elimination, probenecid may have the 
added benefit of reducing the required dose of ACEA 1021.

"We have begun preclinical tests using probenecid and ACEA 1021 together.  
These tests are anticipated to help us determine an appropriate dosing 
regimen for use in future clinical trials," said Joann L. Data, M.D., Ph.D., 
CoCensys' Senior Vice President of Clinical Development and Regulatory 
Affairs.

Despite Novartis' decision not to participate further in trials on ACEA 1021, 
William Jenkins, Novartis' head of world wide clinical development and 
regulatory affairs commented "Novartis values its relationship with CoCensys, 
which has been successful on many levels, and we look forward to the 
possibility of future cooperation with the company."


                                    5.



Dr. Nichol concurred: "CoCensys has enjoyed a good relationship with Novartis 
through this project, and we do appreciate their position.  At this time, we 
are committed to further investigate this compound and to develop it subject 
to obtaining a new corporate partner for the program.  We also see this 
change in corporate relationship as an opportunity to establish a new 
development agreement under financial terms that are more favorable to the 
company."  He noted that CoCensys does not anticipate initiating Phase II 
trials until a new corporate collaboration has been established and that ACEA 
1021 remains an important compound to be developed in the United States, 
where approximately 500,000 strokes occur each year.  Under the terms of the 
Novartis agreement, Novartis and CoCensys were each paying half of the U.S. 
development costs for ACEA 1021.  CoCensys regains all rights to the drug 
and, in exchange, will reimburse Novartis only from future sales of ACEA 1021.

The forward-looking statements contained above involve a high degree of 
technological, regulatory and competitive risks and uncertainties inherent to 
early stage biopharmaceutical companies.  Actual results may differ due to a 
number of factors, including the uncertainties of preclinical and clinical 
testing and others that are more fully discussed in the company's most recent 
Form 10-K.

CoCensys is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets 
products to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders.  The company's 
product development programs focus on three, proprietary technology 
platforms: GABA(A) receptor enhancers or Epalons, to treat epilepsy, 
migraine, anxiety and insomnia; glutamate antagonists to treat stroke, head 
trauma, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease; and ICE-like protease inhibitors 
for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases that involve apoptosis or 
programmed cell death. CoCensys has research and development agreements with 
Warner-Lambert and G.D. Searle and Co.  Through its co-promotion alliances, 
CoCensys' Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing Division markets 
Warner-Lambert's Parke-Davis Division's Cognex-Registered Trademark- for the 
treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Somerset Pharmaceuticals' 
Eldepryl-Registered Trademark- for Parkinson's disease to neurologists.  More 
information about the company is available on its website: 
http://www.cocensys.com.

Novartis is a world leader in Life Sciences with its core businesses in 
Healthcare, Agribusiness and Nutrition.  In 1996, Novartis achieved Group 
sales of 27.6 billion Swiss francs, of which 16.3 billion were in Healthcare, 
7.6 billion in Agribusiness and 3.7 billion in Nutrition, and invested more 
than 3 billion Swiss francs on research and development.  Headquartered in 
Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs 90,000 people in more than 100 countries 
around the world.



                                    6.