April 29/San Diego/Business Wire -- Senomyx Inc. provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. Revenues were $8.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011, a 13% increase compared to 2010. Net loss was $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011, a 29% improvement compared to 2010.

 “We are off to a strong start in 2011,” stated Kent Snyder, chief executive officer of the Company. “Our partners continue to make good progress with their commercialization activities, and we continue to advance our Discovery & Development programs. In addition, Senomyx has maintained a strong balance sheet with approximately $66 million in cash as of March 31.

 “We are especially encouraged by Firmenich’s activities with S6973, which allows sucrose to be reduced in products by up to 50% while maintaining the taste of natural sugar desired by consumers,” Snyder said. “Firmenich has produced commercial quantities of S6973 and they expect to record their first commercial sale to a major-brand customer during the second quarter. These activities are concurrent with Firmenich’s sales of S2383, which can be used in numerous products to enable up to a 75% reduction in the concentration of sucralose, and in some applications also improves taste.

 “As we announced earlier this week, Senomyx was very pleased to have been granted a U.S. patent that includes composition claims covering S2383 and its analogs. S2383 has unique attributes regarding its function and taste characteristics that make it a valuable asset for the company. The new patent was issued on April 19, 2011, and has a term through June 8, 2027. In addition to providing IP protection and exclusivity in the marketplace for a long period of time, the patent is an important validation of our research capabilities,” Snyder noted.

 “Our Discovery & Development efforts are also yielding new breakthroughs in our Cooling Flavors Program,” Snyder added. “We have now identified new cooling flavors that mimic the time-intensity profile of agents that have rapid onset and short acting cooling effects, as well as agents with slow onset and long acting cooling effects. Many of our lead cooling flavor candidates have demonstrated approximately ten-fold greater potency than a commonly used agent in taste tests. These new cooling flavors are currently being evaluated in a variety of product prototypes.”

 

From the April 29, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.