By Bradley J. Fikes From San Diego Union Tribune

Dart NeuroScience, a developer of drugs to improve memory, is closing its operations in San Diego and permanently laying off about 265 employees, according to a notice filed with the state.

Operations will close on Feb. 9, said the notice signed by Kenneth E. Johns Jr., Dart’s CEO and chairman. It was filed with the California Employment Development Department.

Under California law, employers with 75 or more people must give 60 days notice of mass layoffs or closure of operations. Copies of the notice were provided by the EDD and the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Phone and email messages to the privately owned company asking for comment were not returned.

Dart NeuroScience announced the decision suddenly at a mandatory company meeting on Thursday afternoon, according to Tatiana Galvez, who said she had been at the Sabre Springs company as a temporary worker since June.

“We thought it was going to be about preparation for the fires, how to evacuate and what precautions to take,” Galvez said.

Instead, employees were told that company founder and owner Ken Dart had decided to stop funding it, effective immediately, she said.

A businessman with interests including extensive operations in the Cayman Islands, Dart is worth $5.5 billion as of Dec. 7, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Galvez said she is in good condition to go through the layoffs, as she is living at home with her mother in Chula Vista.

The reason given for the closing was that the company wasn’t making enough progress, Galvez said. The reasons were detailed in a letter given to all employees, said Galvez, who emailed a copy to the Union-Tribune.

“Despite the continued effort of an extraordinarily capable and dedicated team of scientists and the investment into research and development of well in excess of seven hundred million dollars, the company has not generated adequate signs of any human memory improvement or motor rehabilitation,” the letter stated.

To continue even part of the programs would require “at least several billion dollars with questionable odds of success,” meaning the company isn’t financially viable, the letter stated.

Dart’s other business enterprises include real estate operations in the Cayman Islands, where he is the owner of Dart Enterprises, Dart Realty (Cayman) and Cayman Shores Development. He is a member of the family that owns Dart Container Corp, a manufacturer of foam cups and plastic foodware.

IMAGE:Dart NeuroScience is closing its San Diego operations. (Dart NeuroScience)