Senomyx Announces Regulatory Approval of Savory Flavor Ingredients in China

    SAN DIEGO, March 8, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Senomyx, Inc.
 (Nasdaq:   SNMX), a leading company focused on using proprietary technologies
 to discover and develop novel flavor ingredients for the packaged food and
 beverage industry, announced today that the Chinese Ministry of Health has
 granted official regulatory approval in China for the Company's savory
 flavor ingredients via the publication of the 2007 List of Flavors Intended
 for Use in Food (GB 2760). These savory enhancers, discovered and developed
 by Senomyx, are intended to allow the reduction or elimination of
 monosodium glutamate (MSG) and to augment the flavor of naturally occurring
 glutamate found in many food and beverage products.
     "Regulatory approval in China opens the world's largest MSG market to
 products containing Senomyx's proprietary savory ingredients," said Kent
 Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "Senomyx is
 primarily responsible for obtaining international regulatory approvals for
 the flavor ingredients that will be marketed by our collaborators.
 Achieving this status in China is important for our partners' future
 commercialization plans and broadens the Company's potential royalty
 revenue base."
     In the U.S., Senomyx's savory flavor ingredients have been determined
 to be Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) under the provisions of the
 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, administered by the United States Food
 and Drug Administration (FDA). The GRAS determination enables incorporation
 of the savory enhancers into a variety of food products including sauces,
 frozen foods, processed cheese and snack foods. This status is recognized
 in, and allows for commercialization in, a significant number of countries
 in addition to the U.S., and facilitates approval in much of the rest of
 the world.
     About Senomyx, Inc. (www.senomyx.com)
     Senomyx is a leading company focused on using proprietary taste
 receptor-based assays, screening technologies and optimization chemistry to
 discover and develop novel flavors, flavor enhancers and taste modulators
 for the packaged food and beverage industry. Senomyx's current programs
 focus on the development of flavor ingredients in the savory, sweet, salt
 and bitter areas. Senomyx has entered into product discovery and
 development collaborations with six of the world's leading packaged food
 and beverage companies: Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Cadbury Schweppes, Campbell
 Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and Nestle
 SA.
     Forward-Looking Statements
     Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are
 not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
 the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such
 statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may
 differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
 statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
 regarding: the capabilities of Senomyx's savory flavor ingredients; the
 size of any market for Senomyx's products; Senomyx's ability, or Senomyx's
 collaborators' ability, to commercialize products incorporating Senomyx's
 flavor ingredients in packaged foods and beverages; and Senomyx's potential
 royalty revenues. Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the
 forward-looking statements include: Senomyx is dependent on its product
 discovery and development collaborators for all of Senomyx's revenue;
 Senomyx is dependent on its current and any future product discovery and
 development collaborators to develop and commercialize any flavor
 ingredients Senomyx may discover; Senomyx may be unable to develop flavor
 ingredients useful for formulation into products; Senomyx or its
 collaborators may be unable to obtain and maintain the regulatory approval
 required for flavor ingredients to be incorporated into products that are
 sold; even if Senomyx or its collaborators receive a regulatory approval
 and incorporate Senomyx flavor ingredients into products, those products
 may never be commercially successful; and Senomyx's ability to compete in
 the flavor ingredients market may decline if Senomyx does not adequately
 protect its proprietary technologies. These and other risks and
 uncertainties are described more fully in Senomyx's most recently filed SEC
 documents, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports
 on Form 10-Q, under the headings "Risks Related to Our Business" and "Risks
 Related to Our Industry." All forward-looking statements contained in this
 press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Senomyx
 undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that
 occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.