Surging sales of cholesterol drug Crestor, combined with the withdrawal of a number of generic competitors from the market, gave AstraZeneca a boost in the second quarter, prompting it to raise its dividend and earnings forecast for the full year.

“I have often made the point that our business is recession-resistant, but not recession proof, [but] we were understandably cautious about the near term outlook for the pharmaceutical sector and for our business,” said David Brennan, chief executive officer of AstraZeneca.