Astellas saw an uptick in revenues for fiscal year 2023 that beat its own projections, the Japanese firm announced Thursday. Its earnings report also revealed that a pair of early-stage programmes have been discontinued. The pipeline trim comes just weeks after the company booked an impairment charge of JPY 70 billion ($453 million) for the first quarter of 2024 due to sluggish sales and clinical setbacks for a trio of therapies.
On the more positive side, Astellas reported 2023 revenues of JPY 1.6 trillion, up 5.6% from the year prior and ahead of its internal forecast of JPY 1.56 trillion. The beat was driven by increased sales of prostate cancer drug Xtandi (enzalutamide), which brought in more than JPY 750 billion for the year, representing a 14% increase over 2022 sales. The figure also surpassed projections of JPY 719.8 billion. Astellas expects revenue for fiscal year 2024 to reach JPY 1.65 trillion.