GLAXOSMITHKLINE revealed sales of a key treatment against a potential flu pandemic have rocketed since January - on the day a new outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in the UK.

The pharmaceuticals giant said sales of its anti-viral Relenza drug totalled é7 million in the first three months of this year - compared with é5 million for the whole of 2005.

Fewer than a million packs of Relenza were produced last year and Glaxo aims to ramp up production by 15 times to meet demand for more protection against flu viruses.

Flu

Relenza is a spray that patients inhale if they are suffering from symptoms of flu. Although it does not prevent the illness, it gives people a much greater chance of survival.

At the same time, Glaxo is continuing to investigate a vaccine against the deadly H5N1 virus of bird flu and the results from clinical trials in Germany are expected in the summer.

Details emerged as Glaxo unveiled a 17 per cent hike in profits to é2.17 billion at constant exchange rates, with revenues growing at the slower rate of 10 per cent to é5.81 billion.

Treatment

The driving forces were its portfolio of six blockbuster drugs that includes anti-depressant Paxil and asthma treatment Seretide, which saw sales cumulatively rise 22 per cent to é2.2 billion.

There was a strong performance from its vaccines business where sales surged 44 per cent to é366 million.

Chief executive JP Garnier assured investors that sales were unlikely to suffer from the constraints on budgets in the NHS and other European health services that forced medical devices maker Smith & Nephew to warn on profits today.

Costs

Glaxo accounts for around a tenth of the total drugs bill of the NHS, but Mr Garnier said cutbacks on medicines would ultimately drive health costs higher.

"We are part of the solution not the problem," he said, pointing out that the average cost of a prescription was é11 compared with é1,500 for a stay in hospital.

"If people stay away from hospitals then they save costs for the NHS."

Shares in Glaxo lifted more than 3 per cent on the back of its results which come in the wake of a positive newsflow from the company, including trials of its Tykerb breast cancer treatment going so well that they were stopped early.

Glaxo also reported a strong performance by recently launched drugs such as Requip for Parkinson's Disease and Restless Legs Syndrome, which saw sales rise by 83 per cent to é58 million.