May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. drug distributor Cencora COR.N raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, driven by robust demand for costly specialty medicines and weight-loss drugs.

The company now expects its annual adjusted profit to be between $15.70 and $15.95 per share, up from its previous expectation of $15.30 to $15.60 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of $15.46 per share, as per data compiled by LSEG.

The increasing U.S. demand for high-margin medicines that treat complex conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, has prompted Cencora and its peers Cardinal Health CAH.N and McKesson MCK.N to expand their footprint in the sector.

Sales at Cencora's U.S. healthcare business, its largest revenue-generating unit, reached $68.3 billion in the second quarter — an increase of 11.4% from a year earlier.

The company said the growth was driven by heightened sales of GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss, along with strong sales of specialty medicines.

GLP-1 drugs, such as Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO Wegovy and Eli Lilly's LLY.N Zepbound, boost sales for drug distributors but are less profitable for them due to higher storage and transportation costs.

Cencora reported a second-quarter profit of $4.42 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $4.11 per share. Total quarterly sales were $75.5 billion during the quarter, slightly below the estimates of $75.68 billion.

Peer Cardinal Health CAH.N last week forecast double-digit growth in earnings for the fiscal year 2026, despite expecting a hit of $200 million to $300 million due to "extreme tariff rates."

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;))