Abbott Laboratories Decides to Downsize

Added by David Sandercock on January 27, 2011

The new healthcare reforms and government regulators have recently increased their examination resulting in increased profit pressure for Pharmaceutical companies.

Abbott Laboratories, on Wednesday, announced that it will cut at least 1,900 jobs ,which will be mostly from U.S. operations.

The drug and medical product company said that the downsizing will be done from marketing and manufacturing operations and sales. It plans to cut jobs mostly in Illinois where it employs 13,000 people. Half of the workers to be dismissed were informed on Wednesday while the remaining will be removed over a period of few years.

Miles White, Abbott Chairman and Chief Executive said that these layoffs were a result of the increased pressure of federal regulators and healthcare over-haul law.

White told that it’s difficult to get a drug approved these days.  The company had to remove its diet drug Meridia from the U.S. market. The drug had little effect on weight loss however it increased risk of heart failure.

Overall the sales of Abbott have been satisfactory. They rose by 13.4% to $9.9 billion in the fourth quarter. The company’s sales are mostly generated from global pharmaceutical sales and drugs like Humira which is used for multiple autoimmune disorders.