Japan-based Astellas Pharma Inc. (TYO: 4503) has released its financial report for Q3 of its fiscal year 2022, which ended December 31, 2022. The firm’s global revenues over the 9-month period reached JPY 1.164 trillion (USD 8.79 billion), marking a 17.3% year-on-year (YOY) growth.
Top Performers and Sales Data
Astellas’ top seller globally is the prostate cancer drug Xtandi (enzalutamide), which generated JPY 511.9 billion (USD 3.87 billion) in sales, with an 8% growth excluding foreign exchange impact. Other key performers include the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) for urothelial cancer, Xospata (gilteritinib) for acute myeloid leukemia, and in Japan, the osteoporosis therapy Evenity (romosozumab), which also saw growing sales. The overall performance over Q1-Q3 aligns with the guidance revised in Q2, which expects full-year sales growth of 18% YOY.
Greater China Market Performance
Astellas provided detailed data for the Greater China market (including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan), where sales over the 9-month Q1-Q3 period reached JPY 65.2 billion (USD 492 million) following a 29.4% YOY growth. During the earnings conference call, Astellas CFO Minoru Kikuoka noted that “Greater China performance looks strong, but this is due to shipment timing. When this factor is excluded, performance is almost in line with our full year forecast.”
China’s Top Sellers
China’s top seller for Astellas is the immunosuppressive drug Prograf (tacrolimus), used to prevent organ rejection following transplant, accounting for JPY 37.2 billion (USD 281.5 million) in Greater China sales, with a 24.9% YOY growth. During Q1-Q3, there was also strong growth for Xtandi, up 79.2% to JPY 9.8 billion (USD 74 million), and Xospata with an 83% expansion to JPY 2.4 billion (USD 18 million).
Leadership Changes
Notably, Astellas’ earnings conference call was led by the newly appointed CEO Naoki Okamura, previously Representative Director and Executive Vice-President. The former CEO Dr. Kenji Yasukawa has transitioned to a position as company board chairman.-Fineline Info & Tech
