Genzyme, CHC lift Sanofi's first-quarter figures, upbeat on Dupixent

PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi reported higher-than-expected first-quarter profits on Friday, buoyed by its specialty care division Genzyme, by vaccines, and by consumer products acquired from Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim.

The drugmaker, which confirmed its full-year outlook, said it was confident Dupixent, a drug for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis that was approved in the United States at end March, would sell well.

Wall Street analysts forecast annual sales exceeding $4 billion by 2022 for the biotech drug known chemically as dupilumab, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"We feel very encouraged with the early coverage (...) we had worked with payers in anticipation of the launch," Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt told journalists.

Sanofi said first-quarter business net income rose 1 percent at constant exchange rates to 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion). Total sales rose 8.6 percent to 8.65 billion.

Analysts polled by Reuters in partnership with Inquiry Financial had on average been expecting business net profit of 1.6 billion euros and net sales of 8.38 billion. ($1 = 0.9203 euros) (Reporting by Matthias Blamont; Editing by Andrew Calus)