Senomyx Announces Conclusion of Discovery and Development Collaboration with Kraft Foods Global, Inc.
The agreement also covers the discovery and development of novel salt enhancers to be used by Kraft Foods on a co-exclusive basis in the chilled and processed meat product category in North America.
02/11/07 Senomyx, Inc., a leading company focused on using proprietary technologies to discover and develop novel flavor ingredients for the packaged food and beverage industry, announced that its discovery and development collaboration with Kraft Foods Global, Inc. will conclude on December 9, 2007, which is one year earlier than the scheduled term of the existing agreement. The conclusion of this collaboration does not impact any of Senomyx's other collaborations or the Company's discovery and development activities.
Senomyx's collaborative agreement with Kraft Foods covers the development of a sweet enhancer for use by Kraft Foods on an exclusive basis in a specified product field in the dessert product category and on a co-exclusive basis in the powdered beverage product field. The agreement also covers the discovery and development of novel salt enhancers to be used by Kraft Foods on a co-exclusive basis in the chilled and processed meat product category in North America.
"Kraft Foods has been a long-standing partner of Senomyx, and we appreciate their contribution to our research efforts," said Kent Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Senomyx. "In July, we extended our discovery and development collaboration through December 2008; however, we received notification from Kraft today that the collaboration will conclude on December 9th of this year. The discontinuation of our collaboration is disappointing given the recent substantial progress made by Senomyx in both the Sweet Enhancer and Salt Enhancer programs."
Subsequent to the conclusion of the collaboration with Kraft Foods, Senomyx will have product discovery and development partnerships with six of the world's foremost packaged food and beverage companies: Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Cadbury Schweppes, Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Nestle SA, and Solae. "Senomyx remains highly committed to all of our programs, including the Sweet Enhancer and Salt Enhancer programs. We have multiple partners for the Sweet Enhancer and Salt Enhancer programs, and we do not expect that the discontinuation of the Kraft collaboration will have any impact regarding our ability to carry out our activities," Snyder commented.
"The early conclusion of the collaboration with Kraft will not have any significant impact upon our expected revenues in 2007 or 2008," noted John Poyhonen, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial and Business Officer of Senomyx.
