PRESS RELEASE

Contact:  Scott Hagen, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer,
          (714) 727-3157, or Lucy Morrison, Feinstein Partners, (617) 577-8110

         
                VINCENT SIMMON NAMED CORTEX PRESIDENT AND CEO

Irvine, Calif., May 16, 1996 - Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:CORX) today
announced the appointment of Vincent F. Simmon, Ph.D., 52, as President and
Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company's Board of Directors,
effective immediately.

Dr. Simmon has over twenty years of management experience in biology and
biopharmacology, including all phases of preclinical and clinical
pharmaceutical development.  Prior to joining Cortex, Dr. Simmon was, from
November 1994 to December 1995, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
of Prototek, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company in Dublin,
California developing protease inhibitors as potential therapeutics for a range
of diseases.  Prior to that from March 1990 to November 1994, he was President
and Chief Executive Officer of Alpha 1 Biomedicals, Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland,
a publicly-traded company developing treatments for viral diseases.

"I am very pleased to be joining Cortex at such an exciting time in its
development," said Dr. Simmon.  "The AMPAKINE-TM- family of compounds may bring
an important improvement in the quality of life to patients suffering memory
impairment from diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.  The data gathered from
recently completed Phase I studies in both healthy young and healthy elderly 
volunteers are very encouraging.  I look forward to moving the Company ahead 
into clinical trials in the patient population."

Cortex, located in Irvine, California, is a neuroscience company focused on the
development of AMPAKINEs-TM-.  These innovative chemical compounds specifically
enhance the functioning of the AMPA receptor, which is believed to be critical
for memory formation and which is involved in most "excitatory" communication
in the human brain.  AMPAKINEs act by increasing the flow of current through
the AMPA receptor in response to neurotransmitter binding, selectively turning
up the "volume" on active brain circuits.  The primary AMPAKINE program at
Cortex is directed toward treatment of memory impairment from diseases such as
Alzheimer's disease.  Additionally, AMPAKINEs are under preclinical
investigation for the possible treatment of schizophrenia.  Cortex believes
that its AMPAKINEs may eventually be applied across a range of neurological and
psychiatric disorders.

Note - This press release contains forward-looking statements.  As discussed in
the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the Company's
products, including AMPAKINEs, will require additional research and
development, extensive clinical testing and regulatory approval, which approval
is subject to various regulatory requirements and which can be lengthy.  In
addition, market acceptance of AMPAKINEs will depend on a number of factors
including safety, efficacy and the status of competitive products.