FRANKFURT, April 23 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis

on Tuesday raised its full-year guidance after

reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results.

In a statement, it said 2024 net sales would likely grow by

a high-single to low double-digit percentage with adjusted

operating income expected to grow by a low double-digit to

mid-teens percentage.

It has previously predicted that adjusted operating income

would increase by a "high single-digit" percentage with "mid

single-digit" sales growth.

Novartis said key growth drivers in the quarter included

heart failure drug Entresto, which will lose patent protection

next year, psoriasis drug Cosentyx and multiple sclerosis drug

Kesimpta.

Quarterly adjusted operating income gained 16% to $4.54

billion, beating an average analyst estimate of about $4.3

billion. Revenues climbed 10% to a better-than-expected $11.83

billion.

The company added that former Bristol Myers Squibb CEO

Giovanni Caforio would be proposed as Chair of the Board of

Directors at the 2025 annual shareholders meeting as incumbent

Joerg Reinhardt will not run again after 12 years in office.

CEO Vas Narasimhan previously led a push to cut jobs and

costs, part of a focus on fewer therapeutic areas and geographic

markets. He also had generic drugs business Sandoz spun

off and listed late last year.

But his focus has recently shifted again to drug

development. He has also been active on the deals front,

agreeing to pay up to $1.01 billion, depending on achievements,

for an experimental prostate cancer drug by Arvinas ( ARVN ),

betting on a technology that lets disease-causing proteins

disintegrate.

In February, Novartis signed a deal to acquire MorphoSys

, a developer of cancer treatments, for 2.7 billion

euros ($2.9 billion), adding a promising rare bone-marrow cancer

treatment candidate to its portfolio.