Abbott Diagnostics Business history

Doctor Abbott began to advertise his products to other doctors in 1891.

The company was incorporated in 1894.

1900: Abbott incorporates his firm as Abbott Alkaloidal Company.

By 1905, annual sales had grown to $200,000.

In 1907, Abbott expanded its reach outside the United States with the opening of an office in London, England.

Abbott produced its first synthetic medicine, Chlorazene, in 1916.

In 1921, the company established a laboratory in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, which developed a number of new drugs, including sedatives, tranquilizers, and vitamins.

It was number 166 in the performance rankings of the S&P 500, number 77 in Business Week magazine's "Global 1000," and ranked number 70 in Forbes magazine's "500 Top Companies." Abbott Laboratories was also named to the Deloitte and Touche "Fast 50 Companies" list. It has posted sales growth for 47 consecutive years, and it has showed dividend growth for 312 consecutive quarters since 1924.

1929: Abbott goes public with a listing on the Chicago Stock Exchange.

In 1931 the company established its first international affiliate in Montreal, Canada.

1936: Company introduces the anesthetic sodium pentothal.

After the departure of DeWitt Clough in 1945, Abbott shifted its attention to the development of antibiotics.

1952: Company launches a new antibiotic, Erythrocin.

In 1962 Abbott entered a joint venture with Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, to manufacture radiopharmaceuticals.

1964: Abbott acquires M & R Dietetic Laboratories, maker of Similac baby formula.

By 1965 Abbott had gone several years without a major breakthrough in research and, worse yet, none was projected at any time in the immediate future.

1967: New president Edward J. Ledder begins a diversification into consumer products, including Sucaryl, a cyclamate sugar substitute.

All three products were the direct result of the company’s increased investment in research and development in the mid-1970’s.

1971: Abbott is forced to recall 3.4 million bottles of intravenous solution.

When Schoellhorn joined Abbott in 1973 (after 27 years with American Cyanamid), he found the company in an unprecedented state of disarray.

Abbott Laboratories registered an annual sales growth rate of 15.5% and an earnings growth rate of 16.5% by 1979.

In 1980 Abbott acquired Sorenson Research of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Abbott led the trend, developing the first diagnostic tests for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), in 1985, and hepatitis.

Merrion, Paul, “Nestlé Sours Baby Formula for Abbott,” Crain’s Chicago Business, June 13, 1988.

In December 1989, Abbott’s board of directors unseated Schoellhorn, who in turn sued the company for his job.

1991: Clorithromycin, an antibiotic, is introduced.

In 1994 Abbott introduced sevoflurane, an inhalation anesthetic that soon gained popularity because of its wide range of uses.

In 1995 Abbott scientists researched chemical interactions inside the brain in order to develop new therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders.

In 1996 Abbott bolstered its diagnostics division through the $867 million purchase of MediSense, Inc., a Waltham, Massachusetts-based maker of blood-testing devices for diabetics.

By 1997 Abbott had doubled its sales and earnings since Burnham had taken over from the ousted Schoellhorn.

During the leadership transition period in 1998, Abbott acquired Murex Technologies Corporation, a maker of diagnostics products, for $234 million.

The FDA also cited poor manufacturing controls as the reason for its halting the sales of Abbott's clot-dissolving agent Abbokinase in early 1999.

In January 2000 Abbott sold its agricultural products business to Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Approximately $1.33 billion of its 2001 revenues went into research and development.

Tricor brought in more than $1 billion in sales for Abbott in 2007.

Drugwatch.com has provided reliable, trusted information about medications, medical devices and general health since 2008.

The lawsuit claims that St Jude Medical knew about a battery-depletion defect in some of its cardiac defibrillators starting in 2011, but the company did not adequately report the risk.

Units Affected – expands on of November 2013 recall of 20 specific lots of FreeStyle and FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips in United States

Abbott acquired St Jude Medical and Alere Inc. in 2017.