Wellcome Research Laboratories

In 1894 Henry Wellcome set up a laboratory in central London to investigate a treatment for diphtheria.

Langley Court had been built in 1886 by James Bucknall, who lived in the house with his family until 1914.

[2] In April 1990, the site won the Queen's Award for Export and Technological Achievement for their Retrovir drug (Zidovudine), an antiretroviral medication; it had been launched in 1987 as AZT, and was the world's first antiretroviral medication.

[3] This medication caused the Wellcome share price to increase in 1989 by five times.

In December 2000, Glaxo Wellcome became GlaxoSmithKline, when it merged with SmithKline Beecham.

Photo of Langley Court. Site of the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories main building.
Staff at Langley Court in the 1930s