- GENEVA: Swiss drug maker Novartis says its net profit in the second quarter rose 12 percent to $2.73 billion.
Novartis says it benefited from the weakness of the US dollar against other major currencies.
The Basel-based company also saw strong sales of newly launched products such as the oral multiple sclerosis medicine Gilenya.
Novartis earned $2.44 billion during the same period last year on sales of $11.72 billion.
The company said Tuesday that sales in the April to June period increased by 19 percent to reach $14.92 billion.