Novartis more than doubled its operating income in IFRS terms in the third quarter on higher sales of its lead products for heart disease, breast cancer, plaque psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis as well as lower impairments for its portfolio assets. Research and development spending fell in the quarter from a year earlier, but still represented 18.7% of sales. R&D spending focused on six products that are in registration in the US, EU, Japan and China. A seventh product, a treatment for malaria, is being reviewed in Switzerland for distribution in the developing world.
