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Pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Wellcome spent Pounds 1.15 billion on research and development in 1997, according to its annual report. The firm, which notched up global sales worth Pounds 8 billion, says it expects to spend Pounds 1.2 billion on R&D next year. It says that for the pharmaceutical industry worldwide, sales in 1997 were up 9 per cent to Pounds 166 billion.The North American market saw the greatest increase from 9 per cent growth in 1996 to 15 per cent in 1997, generating Pounds 61 billion of sales.

The United States accounts for 35 per cent of the global market. Europe has experienced a decline in growth from 9 per cent to 6 per cent. Growth in Latin America has increased from 7 per cent to 11 per cent, while in Asia Pacific growth has slowed from 13 per cent to 9 per cent.