August 3/San Diego, Cal., and Geneva, Switzerland/PRNewswire-FirstCall -- Senomyx Inc. and Firmenich SA announced they have entered into a collaborative research, development, commercialization and license agreement for Senomyx's novel flavor ingredients intended to enhance the taste of sucrose (table sugar), fructose and Rebaudioside (stevia).

During the collaborative period, Firmenich will have exclusive rights to commercialize selected Senomyx Sweet Enhancers worldwide in virtually all food product categories not currently licensed to other companies, and research costs will be shared. In return, Firmenich will pay to Senomyx license fees and royalties on sales of Sweet Enhancers developed under the collaboration. This new agreement does not impact Senomyx's existing collaborations with other companies on its Sweet Enhancer program or its other existing collaborations with Firmenich.

"Senomyx is excited about working with Firmenich to maximize the commercial potential of our new Sweet Enhancers," said Kent Snyder, president and chief executive officer of the company. "We believe there is a large market opportunity for these flavor ingredients, and it is a key goal for Senomyx to have our Sweet Enhancers introduced into the marketplace as quickly, broadly and efficiently as possible.

"Firmenich is a global leader in providing food ingredients and flavor systems to major consumer companies," Snyder noted. "Their strong full-service capabilities include product development, proprietary formulation systems and manufacturing, as well as tailoring flavor solutions to their clients' products and brands. Importantly, Firmenich has recognized expertise in providing sweet flavor solutions for a variety of products. We are confident in their ability to accelerate market introduction and penetration of our new Sweet Enhancers."

"Firmenich's exclusive partnerships with Senomyx give us a competitive edge in developing new flavors and are an example of our passion for breakthrough ideas," stated Patrick Firmenich, chief executive officer of Firmenich. "The combination of Firmenich flavors and Senomyx Sweet Enhancers will enable us to help our clients improve the nutritional profile of their products, without compromising on taste. We thus expect these innovative Sweet Enhancers to enrich our offerings to our clients and further expand our market coverage."

In January 2008, Senomyx and Firmenich entered a first collaborative research, development, commercialization and license agreement for novel flavor ingredients intended to provide a cooling taste effect. The collaboration aims to identify novel cooling flavors that do not have the limitations of currently available agents. Senomyx and Firmenich signed a second agreement in November 2008, under which Firmenich has exclusive rights to commercialize Senomyx's novel S2383 flavor enhancer which reduces the need for sucralose in beverages, foods and oral care healthcare products.

From the August 17, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition