Strong Advance In 1st-Half Profits At Novartis

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has announced its full first-half1997 figures, which show that following the company's surge in sales growth (Marketletter July 28), operating profits also soared, resulting in net income totaling 3.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion), a gain of 27% on the like, year-earlier period.

The group, formed from last year's merger of Sandoz and Ciba, reported that operating profits rose 25% to 4 billion francs, despite heavy investment in R&D, up 18%, and marketing and distribution costs, which rose 27%.

In the health care division, Novartis' operating margin increased from 25.6% to 26.9%. The pharmaceutical sector proved to be the main driver, as key products showed high growth and initial merger-related synergies took effect. The comp- any points particularly to the success of recently-launched products, including Diovan (valsartan) for hypertension, Femara (letrozole), a cancer treatment, Exelon (rivastigmin) for sufferers of Alzheimer's disease and Apligraf, a tissue-based treatment for wounds.