SENOMYX ANNOUNCES REGULATORY APPROVALS FOR S6973, S2383, S6821, AND S7958 IN MANY INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

July 9, 2012--Senomyx, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNMX), a company using proprietary taste science technologies to discover novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage, and ingredient supply industries, announced today that the Company’s flavor modifiers for sucrose (S6973) and sucralose (S2383), and its bitter blockers (S6821 and S7958) have received positive determinations regarding safety from the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). The JECFA determinations allow immediate usage of new ingredients in many countries and also enable regulatory approvals in other countries around the world.

JECFA is an independent committee of international scientific experts that has been evaluating the safety of food additives and flavors since 1956. It is jointly administered by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations. JECFA performs safety assessments and provides advice to FAO, WHO, and the member countries of both organizations.

“The positive JECFA determinations for S6973, S2383, S6821 and S7958 are significant achievements for Senomyx,” said Kent Snyder, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “All four of these flavor modifiers, which were discovered and developed by Senomyx, have previously received Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) regulatory status in the U.S.”

The GRAS designation allows for commercialization in the U.S., as well as numerous additional countries, and it facilitates approval in much of the rest of the world. Other countries, particularly those that do not have independent regulatory approval systems, rely on JECFA to determine the safety of new food additives and flavors. Each of the Senomyx flavor modifiers under review by JECFA was determined to have no safety concerns based on current estimated dietary exposure. This allows them to be marketed in countries utilizing JECFA, unless product registration is required at the country level.

“From a practical perspective the approvals resulting from the JECFA safety determinations, along with the GRAS status, open many markets for S6973, S2383, S6821 and S7958. Notable exceptions are countries in the European Union and China, which have their own regulatory processes,” Snyder added.

1 2 3 Next › Last »