GlaxoSmithKline reported on Wednesday that third-quarter net profit rose 30 percent to 1.3 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) compared with the prior-year period, due to strong sales growth in emerging markets and Japan.

CEO Andrew Witty said the results show that the company is moving “away from a dependency on” western markets and that, looking ahead, he expects “further improvement including significant sales from” influenza products in the fourth quarter.

Total revenue from pharmaceuticals was up 2 percent to 5.6 billion pounds ($9.1 billion) compared with the same time last year, as sales in emerging markets grew 25 percent and in Japan increased 19 percent. These offset a 12-percent decline in US revenue, due to generic competition affecting sales of Imigran/Imitrex, Lamictal and Requip, which fell 74 percent, 21 percent and 30 percent, respectively, to 53 million pounds ($87 million), 121 million pounds ($199 million) and 43 million pounds ($71 million).

In regard to other drug sales, quarterly revenue for Seretide/Advair grew 5 percent to 1.2 billion pounds ($2 billion) over the comparable period in 2008, and combined sales for HIV drugs were down 7 percent to 392 million pounds ($642 million).

Vaccine sales fell 2 percent to 802 million pounds ($1.3 billion), due in part to the “phasing of shipments” including influenza A (H1N1) vaccine, the company explained, while revenue for Relenza jumped from 12 million pounds ($20 million) in the year-ago period to 182 million pounds ($298 million) as countries stockpiled the antiviral. Overall revenue for the period grew 15 percent to 6.8 billion pounds ($11.1 billion), which was in line with analysts’ expectations.

Royal Bank of Scotland analyst Michael Leacock said that “after 11 straight quarters of declining sales growth, it’s good to see sales growth is positive.” He noted that he remained cautious “because of the one-off nature of swine flu products,” adding that 2010 will “be challenging because of the loss of Valtrex,” which could face generic competition in the US as soon as the fourth quarter.

 

 

 

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