Abbott Laboratories

Abbott traces its history to 1888, when it began as a small pharmacy in Chicago.⁠[1]

In 1888, Dr. Wallace C. Abbott, then 30, founded the Abbott Alkaloidal Company, making small pills called “Dosimetric granules” from the alkaloids of medicinal plants. In 1915, the company was renamed Abbott Laboratories to reflect its growing research focus and move into synthetic compounds.⁠[2]

Abbott Laboratories is an Illinois corporation, incorporated in 1900.⁠[3]

In 1920, the company moved to new headquarters in North Chicago.⁠[4]

Wallace C. Abbott died in 1921. Eight years later, Abbott was listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange, offering 20,000 shares at $32 each.⁠[2]

Anesthetics such as Nembutal and Pentothal drove early sales. During World War II, Abbott was among the first mass producers of penicillin.⁠[4]

In the 1960s, Abbott built new headquarters at Abbott Park. In the 1980s and 1990s, it pioneered HIV blood tests and AIDS drugs.⁠[4]

As part of a plan to separate its core hospital products business, Abbott distributed Hospira’s common stock to its shareholders on April 30, 2004. On May 3, 2004, Hospira’s common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HSP.”⁠[5]

On February 15, 2010, Abbott completed its purchase of the Solvay Group’s global pharmaceutical (including vaccine) and diagnostics businesses from Solvay, S.A., a Belgian company, for EUR 4.5 billion, plus payments of up to EUR 300 million if certain sales milestones were met between 2011 and 2013.⁠[6]

On May 7, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Abbott would pay $1.5 billion to resolve investigations of its off-label promotion of Depakote. Abbott pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for misbranding the drug and signed a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement. The government alleged that it promoted Depakote for agitation and aggression in elderly dementia patients and for schizophrenia.⁠[7]

In January 2013, Abbott completed the separation of its research-based pharmaceuticals business, which became AbbVieAbbVieAbbVie Inc. is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois; it became an independent, publicly traded company on January 1, 2013, after its separation from Abbott Laboratories.Open the full entry.⁠[8]

On January 4, 2017, Abbott announced that it had completed its acquisition of St. Jude Medical, Inc., which became a wholly owned subsidiary. Miles D. White said, “The addition of St. Jude Medical creates one of the broadest medical device portfolios in the world.”⁠[9]

On October 3, 2017, Abbott completed its acquisition of Alere Inc.; each Alere share was converted into the right to receive $51.00 in cash, and Alere survived the merger as a subsidiary of Abbott.⁠[10]

On November 13, 2019, Abbott announced that Robert B. Ford would succeed Miles D. White, CEO since 1998, on March 31, 2020, with White remaining executive chairman. Ford joined Abbott in 1996.⁠[11]

Ford became president and chief executive officer in March 2020 and assumed the role of chairman in December 2021.⁠[1]

On May 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint and proposed consent decree alleging that Abbott made powdered infant formula at its Sturgis, Michigan, facility under noncompliant conditions, and that FDA environmental samples taken that February found Cronobacter sakazakii. The proposed decree set steps required before production could resume.⁠[12]

On November 19, 2025, Abbott agreed to acquire Exact Sciences for $105 per share, an equity value of about $21 billion.⁠[3]

On March 23, 2026, Abbott announced that it had completed the acquisition; Exact Sciences, whose products include the Cologuard noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test, became a wholly owned subsidiary, and its last day of trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market was March 20, 2026.⁠[13]

As of December 31, 2025, Abbott employed approximately 115,000 people. Its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ABT.⁠[3]

On January 22, 2026, Abbott announced full-year 2025 sales of $44.3 billion, up 5.7 percent, and net earnings of $6,524 million, compared with $13,402 million in 2024, which included non-cash valuation allowance adjustments. GAAP diluted EPS was $3.72 and adjusted diluted EPS $5.15.⁠[14]

On October 21, 2026, Abbott announced third-quarter 2026 sales of $13,013 million, up 14.5 percent from $11,369 million a year earlier, and GAAP diluted EPS of $0.53. Exact Sciences’ sales are presented as Abbott’s Cancer Diagnostics business.⁠[15]