ABBOTT LABORATORIES’ profit fell by 2.6 per cent as sales missed estimates, damaged by the rising dollar and growing generic competition to anti-seizure medicine Depakote.
Second-quarter net income dropped to $1.29 billion, or 83 cents a share, and it was also pulled down by expenses for an acquisition and cost-cutting moves, the company said in a statement.
Sales increased by 2.5 per cent to $7.5 billion, slightly below analysts’ expectations.
Abbott also announced it has halted a study of its experimental drug ABT-089 after it failed to help patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The study, in the second of three phases needed for regulatory approval, had enrolled 322 patients when an analysis showed there was less than a 5 per cent chance the drug would provide a meaningful benefit, the company said. – (Bloomberg)
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