GSK sees rise in sales of vaccines, healthcare products

LONDON (AP) — British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline says earnings from its core business rose 19 percent, driven by sales of vaccines and new products.

Core operating profit, which excludes taxes, one-time items and restructuring costs, rose to 1.56 billion pounds ($2.28 billion) from 1.31 billion pounds in the same quarter last year.

Sales of vaccines rose 23 percent to 882 million pounds and sales of consumer healthcare products increased 26 percent to 1.76 billion pounds. Pharmaceutical sales fell 1 percent to 3.59 billion pounds, hurt by competition for the Advair asthma treatment.

GSK is struggling to develop blockbuster drugs as older treatments lose patent protection.

CEO Andrew Witty says the results demonstrate momentum, "driven by growth in sales of our new products, effective cost control and execution of our restructuring and integration plans."