Novartis AG delivered strong start to 2006 and its net earnings went up by 32.4 per cent to US$ 1,956 million in the first quarter ended March 2006 from $ 1477 million in the corresponding period of last year. The earning per share improved to $0.83 as against $0.63 in the similar period of last year.

Commenting on the results, Dr Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis, said, "I am pleased with the strong start of Novartis in 2006 with yet another quarter of market share gains, thanks to the fast growth of our new and well established products. In cardiovascular, Diovan ranks No 1 in its class. In oncology, our breakthrough medicine Gleevec/Gliivec was submitted in the US and Europe for approval for the treatment of four rare types of cancer, providing hope to additional patients suffering from cancer. Several very innovative drugs from our strong pipeline were submitted for approval during the first quarter, including in the US for Galvus for type 2 diabetes as well as Rasilez for hypertension."

Novartis' net sales up by 13 per cent to $8,301 million from $ 7,341 million. The pharmaceutical sales increased by 5 per cent to $5,052 million from $ 4,789 million and that of Sandoz division's net sales moved up by 78 per cent to $1,431 million from $ 803 million in the last period. The consumer healthcare division recorded net sales growth of 4 per cent to $1,818 million.

In the US, net sales rose by 15 per cent to $ 2.1 billion driven by Diovan, Lotrel and Zelnom. However, sales in Europe declined by 7 per cent mainly due to lower sales of Lamisil, Clozaril and Foradil, which were affected by generic competition in some countries. Further, its sales in Japan also declined by 10 per cent.

The company completed a series of significant regulatory submissions during the first quarter and made progress in expanding its pipeline through internal development as well as new partnerships.