In October 2008, GlaxoSmithKline plc acquired Genelabs Technologies. Previously called Gene Labs, Inc, the firm had developed Prestara to treat lupus, a condition for which a new drug has not been approved in the US for more than five decades. The company first submitted Prestara for FDA approval in 2000 and had been working with the agency from that point to gather enough clinical evidence to win a regulatory green light for the drug. In addition to its efforts with Prestara, the company has licensed development of a hepatitis E vaccine to GlaxoSmithKline and is has a drug discovery program looking for new compounds to treat hepatitis C. The firm is working with Novartis on some hepatitis C candidates. The firm has focused on building drug discovery capabilities that can support various research and development projects. Genelabs has concentrated these capabilities on discovering novel compounds that selectively inhibit replication of the hepatitis C virus and advancing preclinical development of compounds from this hepatitis C virus drug discovery program, while also developing a late-stage product for lupus. We believe that these high-risk, potentially high reward programs focus our research and development expertise in areas where we have the opportunity to generate either first-in-class or best-in-class products that will address diseases for which current therapies are inadequate
