GlaxoKline profit up 25%v - Asthma, vaccine sales drive growth

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GlaxoKline profit up 25%

Asthma, vaccine sales drive growth

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By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

Last Update: 10:25 AM ET Apr 27, 2006

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. drugmaker GlaxoKline on Thursday

surprised the market with a 25% profit rise in the first quarter on

sales of asthma and antiviral treatments.

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, , ) (UK:GSK: news, chart, profile) said first-quarter profit rose

to 1.05 billion pounds, or 26.3 pence a share, with revenue up 15% to

5.81 billion pounds.

Analysts polled by AFX News were looking for earnings of 23p a share

on revenue of 5.6 billion pounds.

Shares of Europe's largest pharmaceutical rallied 4.3% in a declining

London stock market.

" These results, which are ahead of our expectations and consensus and

support our view that GSK is an exciting late-stage development

story, have been well received by the market, " said Manning, an

analyst at SG Securities.

The drugmaker said sales of its asthma drug, called both Seretide and

Advair, rose 12% to 816 million pounds.

Vaccine sales jumped 44% to 366 million pounds, on growth throughout

the world. Sales of a diphtheria vaccine jumped 54% on the withdrawal

of a rival from the market and hepatitis vaccine sales rose 18% on

the introduction of a pediatric version in the U.S.

GlaxoKline filed for approval of the flu vaccine FluLaval in the

U.S., which it hopes will be on the market for the next flu season,

when it plans to provide up to 30 million doses.

It's also begun clinical trials for a vaccine to treat the killer

H5N1 bird flu.

Several governments have been in contract with Glaxo to order

stockpiles, in case the bird flu mutates into a version that can

spread from human to human, CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier said in a

television interview Thursday.

It continues to see earnings per share around 10% at constant exchange rates.

The company also touted its pipeline, with Tykerb's first Phase III

trial giving it confidence it can be used to treat breast cancer and

as data on Cervarix demonstrated its potential against cervical cancer.

It expects to buy back 1 billion pounds of shares for the year after

purchasing 219 million pounds of shares during the quarter. End of Story

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