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SENOMYX ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2009 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Recent Accomplishments Include:

• Decision by Nestlé SA to select a new flavor ingredient for evaluation of commercial potential in the coffee and coffee whitener fields
• Extension of discovery and development program with Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
• Extension of collaborative research and license agreement with Campbell Soup Company
• Initiation of development activities to support regulatory filings for Bitter Blockers S0812 and S6821

SAN DIEGO, CA – May 7, 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 first quarter ended March 31, 2009. As of March 31, 2009, the Company had approximately $33 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments available-for-sale and no debt.

“Senomyx started 2009 with the extension of our collaborative agreements with Ajinomoto and Campbell, as well as notable progress in our Discovery & Development programs,” said Kent Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “We are gratified that our ongoing scientific advances have led to continued support from our world-class partners.

“Most recently, Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company and a partner for several of Senomyx’s Discovery & Development programs, selected a new flavor ingredient discovered by Senomyx for advancement into the development phase. Selection occurs when a partner determines that a new flavor ingredient has met their requirements for initiation of development activities and evaluation of commercial potential,” Snyder stated. “The ingredient selected by Nestlé is intended to be used in the coffee and coffee whitener fields. Nestlé is also continuing to assess an additional flavor ingredient for potential future selection in the same fields.”

Development phase activities conducted by Senomyx include scale-up production and safety studies to support regulatory filings for new flavor ingredients in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Company initiates these activities upon demonstration of desired taste effects and other important characteristics. Development activities are ongoing for S6973, a highly effective enhancer of sucrose (table sugar). In addition, Senomyx is conducting development activities for two promising bitter blockers, S0812 and S6821. “It is rewarding that Senomyx currently has several new flavor ingredients that met the prerequisites for further development towards commercialization,” Snyder said.

“We are also very pleased that Firmenich, Senomyx’s worldwide partner for commercialization of S2383, our novel enhancer of the high intensity sweetener sucralose, has started conducting product presentations. These include application demonstrations with their customers, which have received positive feedback,” Snyder noted. Preliminary taste testing by Firmenich has indicated that when included in a flavor system, S2383 has the potential to provide an improved taste compared to sucralose alone.

Senomyx is also continuing to increase the number of granted patents in its intellectual property portfolio of proprietary taste receptor technologies. As of March 31, 2009, Senomyx is the owner or exclusive licensee of 157 issued patents and 390 pending patent applications in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.

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 is continuing to market 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. Additionally, Nestlé is 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. During the fourth quarter of 2008 Senomyx received a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) regulatory designation for S2383, a novel enhancer of the high-intensity sweetener sucralose. In addition to enabling up to a 75% reduction of sucralose in product prototypes without compromising the sweet intensity or producing off-tastes, S2383 may impart an improved taste compared to sucralose alone when incorporated into a flavor system. 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.
  Regulatory-focused development activities that include definitive safety studies are ongoing for S6973, a 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. A new advancement in the Sweet Enhancer Program is the discovery of a number of related sucrose enhancers that have other desirable physical properties that may allow potential use in a variety of products. Evaluation of these new sucrose enhancers is continuing in parallel with the development activities for S6973.
  Senomyx is using the Company’s proprietary sweet receptor screening technology to identify enhancers of fructose, a key component of high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener used in numerous food and beverage products. Taste tests have been initiated with samples that demonstrated promising activity in the screening assay. Senomyx plans to screen an additional 50,000 potential fructose enhancers during the year.



• 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 initiated development activities intended to support regulatory filings for two bitter blockers, S0812 and S6821. The development phase includes scale-up manufacturing and safety studies.
  Senomyx is also working with Solae on the discovery and development of bitter blockers that modulate and control bitterness in certain soy-based products. New bitter blockers discovered by the Company provided a taste proof-of-concept with a representative soy sample from Solae. Senomyx is now prioritizing optimization and additional taste tests.



• 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. Using proprietary screening assays based on SNMX-29, the protein Senomyx believes is the primary receptor responsible for human salt taste perception, the Company has identified more than 160 enhancers of both sodium chloride (table salt) and potassium chloride that are active in the assays. These enhancers, which represent 12 diverse sample classes, provide numerous opportunities for the discovery of a new flavor ingredient that provides an appropriate salt taste effect. The enhancers are being optimized to increase their potency and efficacy, and taste tests 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 discover potential new cooling agents. Samples that provided a weak cooling taste effect have been identified and are being evaluated further.

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