Abbott Laboratories is a pharmaceuticals and health care company. It has around 56,000 employees and operates in 130 countries. The corporate headquarters are in Abbott Park, IL, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, near its manufacturing center in North Chicago, Illinois. In 2001, Abbott acquired Knoll, the phamaceutical division of BASF. In 2003, Abbott had nearly $20 billion in sales. In 2004, Abbott spun off its hospital products division into a new 14,000 employee company named Hospira.

In 1985, the company developed the first HIV blood screening test. The company's drug portfolio includes Humira , a drug for rheumatoid arthritis, Norvir, a treatment for HIV, Depakote, an anticonvulsant drug, Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid hormone, and Ensure for adult nutrition. Abbott also has a broad range of diagnostics and immunoassay products.

Products

The following is a list of key prescription pharmaceutical products as found on the Abbott Laboratories RxAbbott site, retrieved 2005-04-03. The names below are registered trademarks of Abbott.

• Biaxin
• Depocon
• Depakote and Depakote ER
• Flomax
• Gengrat
• Humira
• Hytrin
• Kaletra
• Lupron
• Mavik
• Meridia
• Micardis
• Mobic
• Norvir
• Omnicef
• Prevacid
• Synthroid
• Tarka
• Tricor

Controversial pricing of Norvir

Abbott caused controversy in 2003 over a sharp rise in price of Norvir treatment from $1.71 per day to $8.57 per day, spurring claims of price gouging by consumer groups and some members of Congress. Critics point out that Abbott received $3,500,000 in grants from the United States taxpayers to develop Norvir, although the company has responded by pointing out the nearly $200 million development cost for the drug.

Consumer rights group Essential Inventions petitioned the National Institutes of Health to override Abbot's patent on Norvir, but the agency refused to do so on August 4, 2004, citing potential widespread adverse effects on the pharmaceutical market.

Diversity

Abbott is one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 according to Working Mothers magazine.

External links

• NIH Won't Intervene in AIDS Drug Pricing Issue, The Washington Post, August 4, 2004