Menu About us Our history Creating the GSK of today: 1950 – 1999 Creating the GSK of today: 1950 – 1999 These fifty years were pivotal in our history. During this period, we developed the first treatment for HIV, enhanced our consumer brands and developed new treatments for asthma. Company consolidation led to the formation of SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome, which would ultimately merge to become GSK. Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings, 1988. Credit Will & Deni McIntyre What’s exciting about a nucleus? Scientists at Beecham Research Labs (Beecham’s R&D subsidiary, registered in 1945) began focusing their development efforts on penicillin production in 1954. In 1957, they discovered the penicillin nucleus – the core of the molecule – known as 6-APA. From this nucleus, they determined that they could develop new, more effective penicillins. Nobel Prize-winning discoveries At Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (USA), the Wellcome Foundation’s US subsidiary, the research team under Dr. George Hitchings made a series of important discoveries from 1951 to 1981, including some of the first treatments for leukaemia, gout, viral infections and organ transplant rejection. Hitchings, along with Gertrude Elion, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1988 for their revolutionary discoveries of important principles for drug treatment. In 1984, Burroughs Wellcome & Co. scientist Marty St. Clair was at the forefront of developing the first treatment for HIV - which was approved in 1987 - utilising the methods pioneered by Elion and Hitchings. Fighting flu In 1957, Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (USA) introduced a new treatment for cold and flu symptoms, Sudafed, followed by Actifed two years later, both of which became popular consumer brands. In 1960, Contac was launched by Smith Kline & French Co. and became the world’s best-selling cold and allergy treatment. Drug discovery: ulcer treatment Scientists at Smith Kline & French Laboratories developed a breakthrough treatment for ulcer sufferers in 1976, which sold over $1 billion two years later. The company’s Sir James Black was awarded a Nobel Prize for his research methods that aided this discovery. And then there were two… In 1989, SmithKline Corp. (the parent company of Smith Kline & French Laboratories) merged with the Beecham Group plc to form SmithKline Beecham plc. In 1986, the Wellcome Trust publicly sold shares of the Wellcome Foundation Ltd. to form Wellcome plc. In 1995, the Trust sold its remaining shares to Glaxo plc, forming the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, Glaxo Wellcome plc. Thus, by 1995, the majority of our legacy companies had fed into either Glaxo Wellcome or SmithKline Beecham. New Glaxo Wellcome R&D campus at Stevenage, UK, 1995 RSS Other GSK websites Market website selector GSKPro for healthcare professionals GSK Study Register Quick links COVID-19 response Behind the science About us Products Careers Investors Media Research and development Responsibility Accessibility/legal Accessibility Terms of use Cookie policy Privacy notice Modern Slavery Act statement 2020 PDF - 191.4KB Sitemap Contact us Contact us Partnerships Report a possible side effect Business to business Supplier website Business to business This is our global website, intended for visitors seeking information on GSK’s worldwide business. Our market sites can be reached by visiting our market selector. © 2001-2021 GlaxoSmithKline plc. All rights reserved. Trade marks are owned by or licensed to the GSK group of companies. GlaxoSmithKline plc. Registered in England and Wales No. 3888792. Registered office: 980 Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9GS, United Kingdom. We use cookies GSK values your privacy and your trust is important to us. We use cookies to enhance your website experience. Some cookies are necessary to run the website. Others are optional: performance cookies show us how you use our website and features; functional cookies remember your preferences; and advertising cookies help us share relevant content.Cookie Policy Show detail ❮ OPT OUT ACCEPT ALL