French healthcare company Sanofi SA (Euronext Paris:SAN) (Nasdaq:SNY) reported on Friday a 2.6% increase in sales to EUR10.7bn for the fourth quarter of 2022.

The year-on-year improvement was driven by Sanofi's asthma and eczema drug Dupixent, which saw sales growth of 42.1% compared to the same quarter of 2021.

Business operating income rose by 15.0% to EUR2.7bn, with business earnings per share (EPS) of EUR1.71 for the quarter, up 17.4%. EPS for the full year increased 17.1% to EUR8.26.

Sanofi reaffirmed its target to achieve Dupixent sales of EUR10bn in 2023, up from EUR8.29bn in 2022.

The strong demand for Dupixent is expected to be partly offset by generic competition for multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio this year.

For the whole of 2023, the company anticipates EPS to grow by a "low single digit" percentage.