GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals [Get Quote] India, which on Tuesday posted an 18 per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter of 2009, plans to launch two new drugs and acquire established domestic drug brands in the current year to boost its business in India.

GSK [Get Quote] India, which has a turnover of Rs 1,751 crore (Rs 17.51 billion) and launched a cervical cancer drug, Cervarix, and breast cancer drug, Tykerb, last year, plans to launch Promacta, the first oral medication to increase platelet production for people with serious blood disorder, from its parent stable during the current year.

Promacta is a relatively new drug, for which approval was given by the US Food and Drug Administration in November last year. The drug is expected to clock over $1 billion sales in a few years.

Promacta had a potential to contribute about Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) revenue for GSK India within the next five years, said Hasit B Joshipura, managing director of GSK India.