News

LA JOLLA, CA, September 3, 2004 - Senomyx, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNMX) announced today that the Company's scientists have discovered the binding specificity of certain bitter tasting compounds for the human bitter taste receptors, T2R44 and T2R61. The Company also announced that these results have been published in a manuscript authored by Senomyx employees Pronin et al. in the September issue of the journal Chemical Senses (www.chemse.oupjournals.org).

These discoveries, made by Senomyx Senior Scientists Alexey Pronin, Ph.D., Walter Keung, Ph.D. and coworkers, demonstrate that several bitter tasting derivatives of the artificial sweetener saccharin selectively activate human T2R61. Also reported in the manuscript was the discovery that denatonium, one of the most bitter tasting compounds known, was found to selectively activate human T2R44. Using a set of saccharin and denatonium derivatives, activity in the Company's T2R receptor-based assay was shown to correlate with the intensity of bitter taste.

"The work by Dr. Pronin and colleagues is a continuation of our research efforts on human taste receptors," commented Mark Zoller, Ph.D., Senomyx's Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Research. "Previously, we characterized 25 T2R bitter receptors in the human genome. Dr. Pronin's manuscript describes the binding specificity of a set of compounds for two of the 25 human bitter receptors and identifies regions in these receptors critical for binding. Such work represents a significant advance in the utilization of human T2R receptors toward the discovery and development of bitter taste modulators," Dr. Zoller added. "This research finding will allow Senomyx to further expand our capabilities into the discovery and development of novel bitter taste modulators for use in the packaged food and beverage industry," commented Kent Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Senomyx.

About Senomyx

Senomyx is a leading biotechnology company using proprietary taste receptor-based assays and screening technologies to discover and develop novel flavor enhancers and taste modulators for the packaged food and beverage industry. Senomyx has entered into product discovery and development collaborations with four of the world's leading packaged food and beverage companies: Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and Nestlé SA. Senomyx's current programs focus on the discovery and development of flavor enhancers and taste modulators in taste areas including savory, sweet and salt.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements included in this press release that are not a description of fact are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding plans for the Company's taste receptor research, future products or additional collaborations. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Senomyx that any of its plans, projections or future financial, scientific or business objectives will be achieved. The Company's actual results may differ materially from any projected future results set forth in this release as a result of the risks and uncertainties inherent in Senomyx's business including, without limitation, difficulties or delays in developing, testing, obtaining regulatory approval, producing and marketing our flavor enhancers, taste modulators and related technologies; whether we will be able to enter into additional collaborations; the progress and timing of our scientific programs; changes in the laws or regulations of the United States and other countries that could adversely affect our and our collaborators' ability to develop and commercialize our products; whether developments identified in this release will be applied in Senomyx discovery and development programs or aid in the discovery and development of novel flavor enhancers or taste modulators, improve the nutritional profile of products incorporating them or otherwise enhance the Company's market position; our ability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology and to maintain and enforce our licensing arrangements with various third party licensors; our ability to define the scope and validity of patent protection for our products and technologies; competition from other biotechnology companies and flavor manufacturers and other risks detailed in Senomyx's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the prospectus filed in connection with our IPO and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2004. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Senomyx undertakes no obligation to revise or update this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

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