Adrian Adams, who until recently was ceo at Kos Pharmaceuticals, replaces Jim O’Shea, a 17-year company veteran who becomes vice chairman, a newly created spot.

“We currently expect that Adrian will be named ceo within six months. I plan to continue to serve as Chairman of the Board,” says Tim Barberich, the current ceo, in a statement issued after the markets closed.

This isn’t entirely surprising. Barberich, who founded the company that brought you the Lunesta sleeping pill, was talking about selling the drugmaker early last summer. But nothing came of that after the company’s stock price shot up from around $43 to $60 in less than two months.

This leads one to wonder whether Adams, who sold Kos to Abbott Labs for $3.7 billion, might not do the same with Sepracor after awhile. Far-fetched? Try not to lose sleep over it.

[tags]Adrian Adams, Kos, Lunesta, Sepracor[/tags]