PepsiCo in talks with sweetener company about collaboration

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Senomyx Inc., a San Diego-based company that is trying to discover and develop new flavor ingredients for the food and beverage industries, is in talks with PepsiCo about a potential multi-year collaboration on sweeteners. The collaboration would be focused on discovering, developing and commercializing new artificial sweet enhancers, natural sweet enhancers, and natural high potency sweeteners for non-alcoholic beverages. The two companies are now in a 60-day negotiating period, and PepsiCo has agreed to pay Senomyx $7.5 million immediately. The payment, which is non-refundable except under limited circumstances, will later be applied to an upfront license fee if Senomyx and PepsiCo enter into a final definitive agreement. "We are looking forward to finalizing our agreement and using our unique technology to help PepsiCo expand its product portfolio," said Kent Snyder, CEO of Senomyx. The news is the latest twist as both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo investigate new sweeteners for soft drinks, enhanced water, juices and sports drinks.