Swiss group Actelion has raised its dividend 25% as it awaits a U.S. regulatory decision on a new heart and lung drug it hopes will cut its dependency on current mainstay Tracleer.

Europe's largest biotech company has seen its future brighten over the past year after Opsumit, its replacement treatment for top-seller Tracleer, beat expectations in a clinical trial, giving a much-needed boost to its pipeline.

Investors have to wait until October to see whether U.S. regulators will approve the drug, enabling Actelion to cut its dependence on Tracleer, which makes up around 90% of sales.

Both drugs treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a potentially life-threatening lung condition.

The company is focusing on costs savings to refocus research and development spending as it looks to secure growth once Tracleer goes off patent in 2015.

The group posted a full-year net profit of 303 million Swiss francs ($330 million), compared with a forecast for 303 in a Reuters poll. It made a 146 million francs loss in 2011.

Full-year Tracleer sales fell 4% to 1.5 billion francs. The company has raised prices to try and offset competition from U.S. rival Gilead's Letairis.

Actelion said sales erosion from the first generic versions of Tracleer in Canada has been slower than expected.

It said it expected to maintain core earnings at the same level as 2012. It is banking on Opsumit to help core earnings start growing again from 2014 and has forecast double-digit percentage growth in 2015.

The company, founded by chief executive Jean-Paul Clozel in 1997, raised its dividend to 1.00 franc,versus a forecast of 0.78 franc.