April 29 (Reuters) - Incyte Corp ( INCY ) raised its

annual sales forecast for its blood cancer treatment Jakafi on

Tuesday, after robust sales of the drug helped it beat Wall

Street estimates for quarterly results.

Apart from higher demand, Incyte ( INCY ) attributed the

first-quarter sales to policy benefits from the Inflation

Reduction Act and less destocking by retailers and distributors.

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

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

million.

Jakafi, a treatment for myelofibrosis and polycythemia

vera cancers, is also approved for a condition called acute

graft-versus-host disease, a condition where the donor's bone

marrow or stem cells attack the recipient's body.

Incyte ( INCY ) 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. Analysts expected annual sales of $2.96 billion

for the drug, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The drugmaker is also banking on its skin disorder drug

Opzelura, a treatment for vitiligo and mild-to-moderate atopic

dermatitis in patients 12 years and older, to drive growth as it

braces for Jakafi to lose key patents in 2028.

Although sales from 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.

Total revenue for the quarter was $1.05 billion, beating an

estimate of $993.1 million.