Product Development Process

High-throughput Screening and Identification of Lead Compounds.

The next step in our process is to use our proprietary taste receptor-based assays to identify compounds that bind to human taste receptors, known as hits. We use automated high-throughput screening to rapidly evaluate our libraries of diverse synthetic and natural compounds. We have developed or acquired access to expansive libraries of potential flavor enhancers and taste modulators currently comprised of over 180,000 natural and synthetic compounds. We have designed and selected our libraries to comprise compounds that we believe are likely to be safe and economical for use in packaged food and beverage products.

We are using our SavoryScreenHT, SweetScreenHT, SaltScreenHT, SaltScreenEP and BitterScreenHT assay systems to screen the compounds in our libraries for their effects on specific taste receptors. These systems use many of the same technologies that pharmaceutical companies use to discover medicines. We also use these systems to assist us in optimizing our lead compounds by rapidly and iteratively testing the potency of the flavor enhancers and taste modulators generated in the optimization process as the lead compound progresses to become a product candidate.

A panel of taste testers then evaluates the taste effect of the most potent hits. Based on this evaluation, we designate hits that exhibit a positive taste effect as proof-of-concept compounds. We then select the most promising of those proof-of-concept compounds, which we call lead compounds, for optimization. Based on our experience, it takes 12 to 24 months to identify a lead compound from the commencement of high-throughput screening.