Senomyx Reports Revenue Increase for Q3 2010

Senomyx, Inc. (San Diego) has provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010. Revenues were $5.8 million for the third quarter of 2010, compared to $4.2 million for the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 40%. Revenues were $19.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared to $10.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, an increase of 80%. As of September 30, 2010, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and short term investments of approximately $75.5 million.

“Senomyx had major recent accomplishments with our Bitter Blocker and Sweet Taste programs, opening up new opportunities for future commercialization and resulting in a strengthened balance sheet,” stated Kent Snyder, CEO of the company. “We are proud to announce the receipt of GRAS regulatory determinations for two Senomyx bitter blockers, S6821 and S7958. We believe the new approvals represent additional confirmation of Senomyx’s discovery, development, and regulatory experience. These are the first Senomyx bitter blockers to go through the regulatory process, and we have been granted GRAS status for all of the uses and use levels requested. In conjunction with the GRAS designations, Senomyx will receive a $500,000 milestone payment from a collaborative partner.”

Regarding Senomyx’s Sweet Taste program, in late October the company expanded its collaboration with Firmenich SA for S6973, a novel sucrose enhancer. “Firmenich has made notable progress in their pre-commercialization activities with S6973 for food categories,” Snyder stated. “Extending our partnership to include the new beverage categories increases the potential value of S6973. We believe that Firmenich’s expertise with S6973 provides the best opportunity to accelerate commercialization and maximize commercial revenue for this unique sucrose enhancer.

“Senomyx also established a new collaboration with PepsiCo for our Sweet Taste Program in August,” Snyder noted. “We are looking forward to working with PepsiCo, an innovative company committed to reducing added sugar in key global beverage brands.” Senomyx’s collaboration with PepsiCo is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of sweet enhancers and natural high-potency sweeteners for use in non-alcoholic beverage categories.

Additionally, subsequent to the end of the third quarter, Mary Ann Gray, PhD, joined Senomyx’s board of directors. Dr. Gray, who is president of Gray Strategic Advisors, LLC, has extensive experience as an equity research analyst, strategic advisor, scientist, and member of boards of directors of public companies. She holds a PhD degree in pharmacology from the University of Vermont.

Financial review

Revenues were $5.8 million for the third quarter of 2010, compared to $4.2 million for the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 40%. Revenues were $19.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared to $10.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, an increase of 80%. The increases in revenues for the third quarter and the year-to-date were primarily due to the recognition of license fee and R&D funding revenue related to the company’s August 2009 Sweet Program collaboration with Firmenich and August 2010 collaboration with PepsiCo. License fees and R&D funding related to these collaborations contributed $4.6 million and $10.8 million for the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2010, respectively. Also contributing to the year-to-date increase was a total of $3.3 million in non-recurring milestone payments and cost reimbursements from collaborators.

2010 Outlook

“On August 18th, we updated our guidance, which included an increase to our revenue projections and a significantly improved outlook on our cash position. At this time, we are reiterating this guidance and we look forward to providing additional guidance in the first quarter of 2011,” stated Tony Rogers, vice president and CFO.

More information on Senomyx's Q3 2010 financial report can be viewed here.

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