News

SENOMYX ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER AND YEAR-END 2008 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Recent Accomplishments & 2008 Highlights Include:

• Initiation of development activities to support regulatory filings for new Bitter Blockers
• Receipt of GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) designation for Sucralose Enhancer S2383, which allows commercialization in the U.S. and elsewhere
• New commercialization agreement for S2383 with Firmenich SA
• Continued activities to support regulatory filings for Sucrose (table sugar) Enhancer S6973

SAN DIEGO, CA – February 12, 2009 – Senomyx, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNMX), a company focused on using proprietary taste receptor-based technologies to discover novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage, and ingredient supply industries, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2008. Senomyx ended 2008 with more than $40 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments available-for-sale and no debt.

“2008 was an important year for Senomyx, with both scientific and business accomplishments that culminated in the receipt of a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) designation for our sucralose enhancer, S2383, and a new collaboration with Firmenich for the commercialization of S2383 in the US and elsewhere,” said Kent Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “Sucralose is a widely used high-intensity sweetener and we believe Firmenich has the ability to drive worldwide market acceptance and maximize the long-term revenue potential for S2383.

“Senomyx’s progress in our Sweet Enhancer, Salt Enhancer, and Bitter Blocker programs during 2008 led to the extension and/or expansion of all the collaborative agreements that were due for renewal, as well as milestone payments from two partners,” Snyder noted. “We also reported ongoing efforts by Nestlé regarding commercialization of our savory flavor enhancers.

“Senomyx is starting 2009 with significant new advances,” Snyder stated. “We have initiated development activities in support of regulatory filings for S0812 and other promising bitter blockers that met the criteria established by our partner. The Company is also continuing regulatory-focused development activities for S6973, our highly effective enhancer of the natural sugar sucrose. In addition, we are excited to have begun taste tests to evaluate potential new enhancers of salty taste.”

During the past year, Senomyx increased the number of granted patents in its intellectual property portfolio of proprietary taste receptor technologies. As of December 31, 2008, Senomyx is the owner or exclusive licensee of 152 issued patents and 392 pending patent applications in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.

“Senomyx is pleased to be continuing the significant steps forward made in our flavor programs during 2008 and to be entering 2009 with seven of the world’s leading food, beverage, and ingredient supply companies as our development and commercialization partners,” Snyder concluded.

Program Updates:

• Savory Enhancer Program: The primary applications of the Company’s savory flavor ingredients are to reduce or replace monosodium glutamate (MSG) and to enhance the savory taste of foods by combining Senomyx’s savory flavors with other ingredients to create unique new flavors. Nestlé began marketing a small number of new bouillon and culinary aid food products that contain Senomyx’s savory flavor ingredients in the Pacific Rim and Latin America in mid-2007. During 2008, the number of products being marketed increased and the commercialization activities were expanded in these regions. Additionally, Nestlé has been conducting product development and consumer testing with both new and reformulated established products in larger countries that are high-volume users of MSG. Senomyx anticipates that Nestlé will initiate commercialization of established products containing the savory flavor ingredients later this year.



• Sweet Enhancer Program: The primary goal for this program is to identify flavor ingredients that allow a significant reduction of sweeteners in food and beverage products while maintaining the desired sweet taste. On November 5, 2008 Senomyx announced receipt of a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) regulatory designation for S2383, a novel enhancer of the high-intensity sweetener sucralose. Taste tests demonstrated that S2383 enabled up to a 75% reduction of sucralose in product prototypes such as beverages, yogurt, and baked goods without compromising the sweet intensity or producing off-tastes. The GRAS status allows S2383 to be commercialized in the U.S. and other countries; Senomyx’s partner for S2383, Firmenich, has initiated pre-commercialization activities.
  Development activities are ongoing for S6973, a new sucrose enhancer that enabled up to 50% reduction of sugar in taste tests with beverage, yogurt, cereal, cookie, condiments, hard candy, and other product prototypes while maintaining the full sweet taste with no off-tastes. Scale-up of food-grade material has been completed and definitive safety studies designed to support regulatory filings in the U.S. and elsewhere are underway.
  Senomyx’s scientists are currently using the Company’s proprietary technology to identify enhancers of fructose, a key component of high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener used in numerous food and beverage products. Samples that are active in the screening assay are being scaled up and optimized for taste tests. Senomyx is encouraged by the more prominent activity demonstrated by recently identified samples.



• Bitter Blocker Program: The primary goals of this program are to reduce or block bitter taste and to improve the overall taste characteristics of foods, beverages, and ingredients. Senomyx has two collaborators for the Bitter Blocker Program. The Company identified S0812 and other bitter blockers that met the criteria for reducing the bitterness of several variations of one collaborator’s product, as well as additional product prototypes. Senomyx has therefore initiated development activities intended to support regulatory filings for these bitter blockers in the U.S. and elsewhere. The development phase includes scale-up manufacturing and safety studies.
  Senomyx also had significant progress in its collaboration with Solae, which involves the discovery and development of new bitter blockers that modulate and control bitterness in certain soy-based products. Senomyx identified new bitter blockers that provided a taste proof-of-concept with a representative soy sample from Solae. These bitter blockers are undergoing optimization for further taste evaluation.



• Salt Enhancer Program: The goal of the Salt Enhancer Program is to identify flavor ingredients that allow a significant reduction of sodium in foods and beverages yet maintain the salty taste desirable to consumers. During 2008, Senomyx reported a major scientific finding with the discovery of SNMX-29, the protein the Company believes is the primary receptor responsible for human salt taste. Using new proprietary screening assays based on SNMX-29, Senomyx has identified well over 100 enhancers of both sodium chloride (table salt) and potassium chloride that are active in the assays. These enhancers, which represent 12 diverse sample classes, are being optimized to increase their solubility, potency, and taste characteristics. Taste tests to determine their efficacy have been initiated.



• Cool Flavor Program: The goal of the Cool Flavor Program is to identify novel cooling flavors that do not have the limitations of currently available agents. Senomyx has initiated taste tests of samples that were active in the Company’s proprietary high-throughput screening assay designed to identify potential new cooling agents. In a recent advance, preliminary results indicated that a newly identified sample provided a cooling taste effect. This and other samples will be investigated further.

Contacts