Synthélabo

Synthélabo was a major French pharmaceutical company that played a pivotal role in the consolidation of the European life sciences industry. Headquartered in Paris, the company was renowned for its robust research and development pipeline, particularly in the fields of the central nervous system, cardiovascular medicine, and urology. Its most successful commercial products included the widely prescribed sleep aid Stilnox (zolpidem) and the prostate treatment Xatral (alfuzosin). Originally formed in 1970 and later controlled by the L'Oréal Group, Synthélabo merged with Sanofi in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. This merger created one of the largest pharmaceutical entities in the world, eventually evolving into the modern Sanofi group.