Senomyx-PepsiCo Deal Aims at 25% Sugar Reduction in Key Brands

Seeking to launch the next generation of low-calorie non-alcoholic beverages that don't sacrifice taste, Senomyx and PepsiCo have formally entered into a four-year exclusive agreement regarding Senomyx's sweet enhancer and natural sweetener discovery, development and commercialization activities. The deal is worth $30 million for Senomyx, in addition to $32 million in committed research and development payments over the four-year research period and milestone payments "based on the achievement of predetermined goals as well as royalty payments." PepsiCo has the option of extending the program another two years.

Of the announcement, Pepsico chief scientific officer Mehmood Khan said, "This relationship with Senomyx reflects our increasingly long-term approach to research and development as well as our belief that global food and beverage companies can play an important role in identifying new ingredients that can lead to healthier products. The real challenge is to create products that not only are healthier but also taste great, and Senomyx has unique technologies that will allow us to improve the nutritional profile of our products without sacrificing taste. We're very optimistic that this collaboration will help us achieve our commitment to reduce added sugar per serving by 25% in key brands in key markets over the next decade and ultimately help people around the world live healthier lives."

Senomyx CEO Kent Snyder added, "We are looking forward to working with PepsiCo on our common objective of developing products that meet the growing demand for lower-calorie offerings. PepsiCo is an industry leader with its commitment to reducing added sugar in key global beverage brands, and we are particularly excited about expanding our research efforts for the discovery of enhancers of sweeteners such as sucrose and fructose and the identification of new natural high-potency sweeteners that would allow Senomyx to provide PepsiCo with a broad spectrum of sweet- taste options."

 

 

 
 
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