The increase was helped by a strong sales of its prescription drugs and a good performance from its medical device business.

Third-quarter earnings came in at $1.817bn, or 60 cents a share, up from $1.529bn in the same period last year and slightly better than expected.

Revenue for the quarter rose 12% to $9.1bn.

The company's chief financial officer Robert Darretta said analysts should "modestly increase estimates" for full-year earnings.

"We are delighted with the (third-quarter) results, which showed strength across all product lines that was better than expected," said Kurt Kruger, an analyst at Banc of American Securities.