Abbott cancels sale of flu-vaccine business
Abbott Laboratories, after acquiring Solvay SA's pharmaceutical unit, has canceled plans for a sale of the flu vaccine part of the business, spokesman Scott Stoffel told Bloomberg.
Abbott said in June that it was considering divesting the unit that sells Influvac vaccine, which had 2009 sales of 162 million euros ($207.7 million). The drugmaker gained the unit as part of its purchase of Brussels-based Solvay's pharmaceutical unit in February for about 4.8 billion euros.
"We explored the potential to sell it, and we determined it was in the best interest of both Abbott and the vaccine business to retain it and integrate it into the company," Stoffel said. He declined to comment further on the company's reasons for canceling the potential sale.
Source: Daily Herald
