Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, has announced its quarterly profit jumped, driven by sales of prescription treatments for seizures, high cholesterol and allergies.
The company posted earnings of $2.86 billion, or 46 cents per share, compared with $1.96 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding items, Pfizer earned 48 cents per share. Analyst estimates ranged from 46 cents to 49 cents per share, with an average forecast of 47 cents per share.
Revenue rose 14 per cent to $9.33 billion.
The US pharmaceutical company announced plans earlier this week to create 200 jobs with the establishment of a financial shared services centre in Dublin.
The company, which is best known for the production of Viagra, already employs 1,600 people in manufacturing, sales and marketing in Cork and Dublin.
About 25 staff are also employed at Pfizer International Bank Europe in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin.
With a slew of blockbuster drugs generating sales of more than $1 billion each year, such as cholesterol drug Lipitor and Viagra, Pfizer is known for consistently posting double-digit percentage profit gains.
But some analysts are concerned that much of the growth comes from merger-related savings rather than its own research, particularly after Pfizer swallowed up Warner-Lambert Co. in 2000 and cut massive overlapping costs.