Sales will probably rise by a mid single-digit percentage this year and core earnings per share by a percentage up to the low teens, the UK drugmaker said in a statement as it reported earnings.

Chief executive officer Pascal Soriot is reaping the benefits of a risky bet on cancer to transform the drugmaker’s once meager pipeline.

Soriot has made cancer a priority, establishing a collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo Co that’s already yielded one possible future blockbuster, the breast cancer drug Enhertu.

Astra last month reported partial results that seemed to fall short of investors’ expectations for another medicine, called datopotamab deruxtecan or Dato-DXd.

The Cambridge-based company reported core earnings per share of US$1.73 for the third quarter, matching analysts’ expectations.

The company previously said it expected sales to increase by a low-to-mid single-digit percentage and core earnings per share by a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage at constant currencies.

Soriot last month said UK reports of his imminent departure are “fake news” and he feels fit enough to spend another five years at Astra.

Astra shares have dropped about 4.6% in the past 12 months. The stock has suffered recently on concern about Dato-DXd’s potential to replace chemotherapy in lung cancer.