Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca yesterday returned to the primary debt market for the first time in over three years to successfully sell almost $7bn (€5.1bn) of bonds amid a backdrop of unrelenting credit market volatility.

The sale, AstraZeneca's first since it sold $750m of 10-year bonds in May 2004, is the latest sign that the US corporate bond market is open and highly rated companies can secure billion dollar financings despite broad credit market turmoil.