AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) laid out its defence against Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) $106 billion (62.4 billion pounds) takeover approach on Tuesday, painting a bullish picture of its new drug pipeline and forecasting sales above $45 billion by 2023. While AstraZeneca faces declining revenue over the next three years as older medicines lose patent protection, the company said it sees “strong and consistent” growth from 2017 to 2023, driven by new treatments for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and lung disorders.