US pharma business driving Abbott

Abbott Laboratories has posted a 6.2% rise in sales for the firstquarter of 2001 to $3.56 billion, an increase of 4.3%, though the company noted that the strong dollar knocked 2.8% off the total. Net earnings, excluding acquired in-process R&D and one-time charges, increased 6% to $734.9 million.

Global pharmaceutical sales were up 10.2% to $1.66 billion, and Abbott noted that growth was particularly strong in the USA (+17.9%). The company's best-selling product in the latter territory was the epilepsy drug Depakote (divalproex sodium), revenues from which increased 7.5%. Healthy growth was also reported for its treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia, Flomax (tamsulosin), the lipid-lowerer TriCor (fenofibrate) and the inhaled anesthetic Sevorane/Ultane (sevoflurane). Worldwide sales of Abbott's new combination HIV treatment Kaletra (lopinavir plus ritonavir; formerly ABT-378r) reached $44 million.

Making "great strides"