Exhibit 99.1


              GENELABS TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES THAT DR. IRENE CHOW
                  RETIRES FROM FULL-TIME CEO RESPONSIBILITIES
                     WHILE REMAINING CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
                       JAMES A.D. SMITH APPOINTED AS CEO

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - February 13, 2004 - Genelabs Technologies, Inc.
(Nasdaq:GNLB) today announced that chairman and chief executive officer Irene
A. Chow, Ph.D., will retire from her position as chief executive officer
effective March 8, 2004, while remaining chairman of the board of directors.
James A.D. Smith, president of Genelabs and a member of the board of directors
since 1999, will become chief executive officer, remaining president and a
member of the board of directors.

Dr. Chow joined Genelabs as president of the biopharmaceutical division in
1993, when she also became a member of the board of directors. She was
appointed to the position of president and chief executive officer in 1995. In
1999, she retired from her full-time role as the chief executive officer of
Genelabs, becoming chairman of the board of directors. Dr. Chow returned to
full-time status in 2001 and was re-appointed chief executive officer, while
retaining the role of chairman. Before joining Genelabs, she was senior vice
president of drug development for the pharmaceuticals division of Ciba-Geigy
Corporation, USA prior to its merger with Sandoz to become Novartis.

 "Under Dr. Chow's experienced leadership, Genelabs has transformed itself
into a drug development and discovery company that has the potential to have a
product on the market next year," stated long-time board member H.H. Haight.
"The board of directors is grateful for her many achievements, unwavering
enthusiasm, dedication and keen insight. We are very pleased that Dr. Chow, as
chairman, will continue to provide the company with her strategic insight as
it pursues its goals. I believe the near-term opportunities for Genelabs have
never been greater, thanks to all of her contributions."

"I am proud that our business is in such great shape," stated Dr. Chow. "We
have received an approvable letter from the FDA for our investigational drug,
Prestara(TM) for systemic lupus erythematosus, and have an outstanding
arrangement in place with Watson Pharmaceuticals for marketing Prestara in
North America, if approved by the FDA. We recently completed patient
enrollment in our confirmatory clinical trial measuring the effect of Prestara
on the bone mineral density of women with lupus on glucocorticoids. We have
also recently established an excellent partnership with Tanabe Seiyaku for the
Japanese development and marketing rights to Prestara. In research, our drug
discovery team is initiating preclinical development on one of our lead
compounds for the hepatitis C virus. Finally, our financing efforts in 2003
were successful. These key accomplishments give me confidence in the future of
Genelabs and allow me to fulfill my plans to retire from my full-time role as
CEO."

Mr. Smith joined Genelabs in 1994 and was appointed president in April 1999.
From January 2000 to January 2001 he served as chief executive officer. Before
joining Genelabs, Mr. Smith was employed in various executive capacities at
ICN Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Chow concluded, "Jim and I have worked very closely together since he
joined Genelabs over ten years ago. He has consistently demonstrated his
loyalty to the company and has been closely involved in all important areas of
our business. I am delighted that he will be succeeding me as chief executive
officer and look forward to continuing to work with him in my role as chairman
of the board."

"I am particularly pleased that while retiring from day-to-day operations,
Irene will continue to serve as chairman and that Genelabs will benefit from
her exceptional insight and wise counsel," stated Mr. Smith. "Genelabs will
continue to follow the strategic direction set under Irene's leadership, and
we hope to be able to build upon the strong foundation she has established
through her many accomplishments."

About Genelabs
--------------
Genelabs Technologies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the
discovery and development of novel pharmaceutical products to improve human
health. We have built drug discovery and clinical development capabilities
that can support various research and development projects. We are
concentrating our capabilities on developing a late-stage product for lupus
and discovering novel lead compounds that selectively inhibit replication of
the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Through our drug discovery efforts we have
synthesized numerous antimicrobial lead compounds, one of which has been
selected for preclinical development, and are using high-throughput methods
for the discovery of novel lead compounds for HCV. Our clinical development
efforts are concentrated on Prestara(TM) (prasterone; Anastar(TM) in Europe)
for systemic lupus erythematosus, for which we have received an approvable
letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and for which we have
submitted a Marketing Authorization Application in Europe. For more
information about Genelabs, please visit www.genelabs.com.

NOTE: This press release contains forward-looking statements including
statements regarding the potential and timing for Prestara(TM) to be marketed
in the United States and the prospects for our hepatitis C virus research
program. These forward-looking statements are based on Genelabs' current
expectations and are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Uncertainties
and risks include, without limitation, the company's capital requirements and
history of operating losses; whether the results of the company's clinical
trials of Prestara(TM) and other supporting information will be sufficient to
support the approval of Prestara(TM) by the FDA, the European Agency for
Evaluation of Medicinal Products and other regulatory authorities; delays
regarding the regulatory approval process including the timing and scope of
approval received, if any; uncertainties and risks regarding market acceptance
of Prestara(TM) as a treatment for SLE; uncertainties and risks regarding the
company's ability to consummate strategic or corporate partner transactions on
favorable terms or at all; the early stage of Genelabs' research programs and
uncertainties associated with the preclinical development of compounds,
including whether a compound will advance to preclinical testing, clinical
trials, or ultimately become a product, and the uncertainty of the timing of
any of these; and the validity, scope and enforceability of patents related to
the company's technologies. The active ingredient in Prestara(TM) is
prasterone, the synthetic equivalent of the androgenic hormone
dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Products containing DHEA are currently being
marketed by others as dietary supplements. The company has not submitted
applications for regulatory review of Prestara(TM) outside the U.S. and
Europe. In addition, neither U.S. nor other regulatory authorities have made a
determination as to the safety or efficacy of Prestara(TM) for SLE. Please see
the information appearing in the company's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
and Annual Report on Form 10-K, under the captions "Risk Factors," "Business
Risks" and "Forward-Looking Statements" for more discussion regarding these
uncertainties and risks and others associated with the company's research
programs, early stage of development and other risks which may affect the
company or cause actual results to differ from those included in the
forward-looking statements. Genelabs does not undertake any obligation to
update these forward-looking statements or risks to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this release.