April 29 (Reuters) - Incyte Corp INCY.O 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 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 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 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.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))