Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has made a strong start to the year after a healthy jump in sales in the US.
The success of new asthma drug Advair helped sales of GSK's pharmaceutical products soar 15 per cent in the US in the first three months of the year.
The group says the treatment is already its third largest product after being on the US market for less than a year.
Group-wide sales in the first quarter to March 31st rose 7 per cent to €8.3 billion as pre-tax profits jumped 15 per cent to €2.60 billion.
Chief executive Dr Jean-Pierre Garnier says the results demonstrate the "breadth and strength" of GSK's product portfolio.
He says the quarterly performance provided "a strong platform to build on for the rest of the year".
Shares in the group, which is fighting patent challenges on a number of its drugs, were up almost 4 per cent after the results were published.
GSK says it's on track to record earnings growth in the "mid-teens" this year with "low-teens or better" in 2003.
PA