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Abbott Laboratories Inc reported a 51 per cent rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday as its recently launched Xience stent generated explosive sales.

The US introduction of Xience, a drug-coated stent that props open heart arteries that have been cleared of plaque, came in early July. Boston Scientific Corp simultaneously launched an identical product called Promus that entitles Abbott to 40 percent of Promus' profits through a licensing deal.

"Xience has become the No. 1 stent on the US market, with share in the mid-to-upper 20s," said Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel. He noted it is also the leading drug-eluting stent in Europe and all other regions where it has been introduced.

Abbott had predicted it would take Xience a year to reach US market share of 25 per cent to 30 per cent, Stoffel said. "It has exceeded our expectations."

Xience and Promus are wresting sales away from Johnson & Johnson's Cypher and Boston Scientific's older Taxus stent, helped by a design that makes it easier for doctors to deliver them to coronary arteries, as well as impressive data on safety and effectiveness.

Drug-coated stents have become a mainstay of heart treatment, although Cypher and Taxus sales have been hobbled by concerns that they can cause blood clots that lead to heart attacks.

Abbott's stent business also includes older bare-metal devices. In addition, the company receives a small royalty for a drug it developed that is used to coat Medtronic Inc's Endeavor stent.

"BLOWOUT SALES"

Total company stent sales more than doubled to $383 million, including $305 million from Xience and Promus and Medtronic royalties, Abbott said.

"These are absolutely blowout sales for Xience and Promus," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Phillip Nalbone. "They are now dominating the drug-coated stent market and will be a big driver of profitability and cash flow for Abbott."

The suburban Chicago drugmaker also reported double-digit sales gains for its prescription drugs, nutritional products and overall line of medical devices, prompting Abbott to raise its 2008 earnings forecast.

Arthritis drug Humira continued to accelerate with its quarterly sales jumping 50 percent to $1.2 billion.

"The company is hitting on all cylinders," Nalbone said, noting that Abbott raised its 2008 Humira sales forecast to more than $4.4 billion. He predicted the drug's annual sales could top $10 billion in coming years.

Company earnings rose to $1.08 billion, or 69 cents per share, from $717 million, or 46 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter, when Abbott took a number of special charges.

Excluding special items, profit was 79 cents per share. Analysts, on average, expected 77 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

"Third-quarter results confirm our bullish outlook for the stock," Morgan Stanley analyst David Lewis said in a research report, noting that all major product lines matched or beat sales forecasts.

Quarterly sales rose almost 18 per cent to $7.5 billion, above the Reuters Estimates forecast of $7.35 billion. The increase would have only been 12.9 per cent without the continued benefit from the weak dollar, which raises the value of overseas sales when converted back into US currency.

Abbott raised its full-year earnings forecast to a range of $3.31 to $3.33 per share, from its earlier view of $3.24 to $3.28. The new forecast would translate into earnings growth of up to 17.2 per cent from last year.

Abbott shares were up 30 cents to $55.08 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading, amid a sharp declines for the broad stock market. J&J fell 2.8 per cent to $62.21, while Boston Scientific fell 1.8 per cent to $9.13.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Brian Moss and Lisa Von Ahn)