One year after a big merger created GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., the company posted a 13 percent increase in 2001 earnings, bolstered by strong sales of the asthma drug Advair.

Executives of the world's second-largest drug company predicted yesterday that earnings growth would be in the mid-teens for 2002, and, for the first time, forecast growth in the "low-teens or better" for 2003.

Glaxo, which has major offices and research and development operations in the Philadelphia area, "is very confident about the future," chief executive officer Jean-Pierre Garnier said at a news conference. "We will grow in the double digits for the next two years, which is clearly above the average for the pharmaceutical industry."

The stock closed yesterday at $50.05, up 34 cents.

The company, which employs more than 5,000 in the Philadelphia area, said it had been able to achieve cost savings of more than $1 billion since it was formed by the merger of British drugmakers Glaxo Wellcome P.L.C. and SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. a year ago. Now, the company will focus on "cranking out a lot of new drugs," Garnier said.

Glaxo officials said they saw early promise among the therapeutic products in their research-and-development pipeline. "A year ago, I said we had to beef up the pipeline," Garnier said. "We are already on our way to recovery, and we will have a spectacular pipeline in two or three years."

Todd Lebor, an analyst with Morningstar Inc., said analysts had questioned the strength of Glaxo's pipeline, but he said the overall health of the big pharmaceutical company was strong. "One thing we like about GlaxoSmithKline is that it is big and boring," he said. "It doesn't have flashy appeal, but it has a large portfolio of profitable drugs."

Glaxo's top-selling drugs include asthma medicine Advair, antibiotic Augmentin, diabetes medicine Avandia, antidepressant Paxil, HIV treatment Trizivir, herpes treatment Valtrex, and antidepressant Wellbutrin. The company sold $1.2 billion worth of Advair in the eight months since its April launch.

The company is fighting legal challenges to patents on Augmentin, with 2001 sales of $1.4 billion, and Paxil, which had sales of $2.6 billion. Garnier said yesterday that the patents were "solid," but he declined to speculate on the effect on earnings once generic versions of Paxil and Augmentin reach the market.

Garnier said Glaxo would continue to try to license the drugs of other firms to add to its line of medicines, and he said he expected more product acquisitions.

Glaxo has a partnership with Germany's Bayer AG on an impotence treatment, which could be launched in the United States by the end of the year, to compete with Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra.

Vardenafil, the impotence drug, is one of five products Glaxo hopes to launch this year. The others are Avolve, a new treatment for noncancerous enlargement of the prostrate gland; Bexxar, for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; Infanrix PeNta, a combination vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and polio; and a new use for Advair in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Glaxo plans to seek regulatory approval this year for a new osteoporosis drug, Ibandronate, in partnership with Roche Pharmaceuticals.

Bob Kirby, an analyst with Edward Jones, said Glaxo had "pretty-high-profile deals" for the drugs Vardenafil and Ibandronate. "You have reason to be optimistic these could be blockbusters," he said. "I think the company has pretty good growth prospects."

---

Linda Loyd's e-mail address is lloyd@phillynews.com.