The French company Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third biggest pharmaceutical group, on Friday posted a net profit of 2.173 billion euros (2.76 billion U.S. dollars) for the first quarter of 2006, up 53.6 percent from a year ago.

Sanofi-Aventis said that the sale of its Exubera patent to the U.S. group Pfizer had generated a post-tax capital gain of 384 million euros (485 million dollars).

Excluding this exceptional contribution, its net profit rose by 20.4 percent.

Exubera, the product of a joint development program between Aventis and Pfizer, is an inhaled short-acting insulin preparation recommended for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Sanofi-Aventis projected a rise of 10.0 percent in its net earnings per share for the year 2006, the same as the forecast it made at the beginning of the year. Its per-share value recently showed a fall of 0.20 percent to 76.50 euros (96.96 dollars).

Source: Xinhua