July 25 (Reuters) - Sanofi's second-quarter

profit rose 3.2% on strong demand for its blockbuster asthma

drug Dupixent and better-than-expected sales of new launches,

with the company now expecting a stable full-year profit

compared to a prior forecast of a fall.

Operating income, excluding one-off items, rose 3.2% to 2.81

billion euros ($3.05 billion), above the 2.08 billion euros

expected on average by analysts in a poll on the company's

website.

The company now forecasts stable earnings per share 2024

business, from its previous forecast of a low single-digit

percentage fall.

Sales of Dupixent, which is approved to treat conditions

such as asthma and eczema, rose 29.2% to 3.30 billion euros,

above analyst consensus estimates of 3.18 billion euros.

Anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent, on which Sanofi partners

with Regeneron, has long been a key growth driver, and

the company has been seeking to expand its use for other

conditions.

Still, Sanofi has faced shareholder concerns that it is

overly reliant on Dupixent.

The French drugmaker has ramped up spending on research and

development to revive its portfolio of experimental drugs and

vaccines. It unexpectedly abandoned its 2025 margin targets in

October for the R&D push, sparking a selloff in its stock.

Sanfoi's new launches include haemophilia treatment

Altuviiio, Beyfortus to prevent a common respiratory infection

in infants, and type 1 diabetes treatment Tzield.

Quarterly sales of Beyfortus, which it sells with

AstraZeneca ( AZN ), came in at 18 million euros, versus

expectations of 15 million euros.

Sales of Altuviiio came in at 158 million euros, above

estimates of 139 million.

Investors have been closely watching the performance of the

new launches to gauge their near-term earnings potential.

($1 = 0.9226 euros)

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane

Venkatraman

)