Astellas Lifts View as Cancer Drugs Drive Profit to 2016 High

The Astellas Pharma headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg

Astellas Pharma Inc. raised its outlook after strong sales of its cancer drugs drove quarterly earnings to their highest since at least 2016.

The Japanese drugmaker raised its full-year operating profit goal by 50% to ¥240 billion ($1.6 billion), attributing the lift to the strong demand for its bladder cancer therapy Padcev and stomach cancer drug Vyloy.