April 29 (Reuters) -

Incyte Corp ( INCY ) raised the annual sales forecast for

its blood cancer drug Jakafi on Tuesday, and said it expects

minimal impact from U.S. tariffs due to its flexibility in

sourcing supplies.

CEO Hervé Hoppenot credited the drugmaker's tariff

resilience to its "dual sourcing" strategy, which allows it to

make key products in the U.S. or Europe, in a conference call

with analysts.

Incyte ( INCY ) also said its exposure to China is limited to

some starting material for some of its drugs and that it has

enough inventory for a multi-year period as well as alternate

supply sources.

Earlier in the day, Incyte ( INCY ) said it now expects annual sales

of Jakafi between $2.95 billion and $3 billion, up from prior

range of $2.93 billion to $2.98 billion, after robust sales of

the drug in the first quarter.

Apart from higher demand, Incyte ( INCY ) attributed the

quarterly sales to policy benefits from the Inflation Reduction

Act (IRA) and less destocking by retailers and distributors.

TD Cowen analyst Marc Frahm on Tuesday identified Jakafi as

one of the "biggest beneficiaries" of the IRA.

Sales of Jakafi rose 24% from a year ago to $709 million for

the quarter, compared with analysts' estimate of $638.4 million,

according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Jakafi is mainly used to treat blood cancers called

myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera.

Although sales from skin disorder drug Opzelura rose 38%

from a year ago to $119 million for the quarter, they fell short

of analysts' estimate of $131.6 million.

On an adjusted basis, Incyte ( INCY ) earned $1.16 per share in the

quarter ended March 31, outperforming analysts' estimate of

$1.02 per share.

The Trump administration said earlier this month that it is

stepping up probes into pharmaceutical and chip imports, setting

the stage for tariffs.

Incyte's ( INCY ) shares rose 1.5% in morning trading.