Double-digit earnings for Abbott

ABBOTT PARK -- Abbott Laboratories has reported a 14.5 percent growth in earnings for the first quarter.

Diluted earnings per share, excluding specified items, were $0.63.

Worldwide sales in the first quarter increased 13.8 percent to $6.8 billion, including a favorable 5.5 percent effect of exchange rates.

Worldwide pharmaceutical sales increased 14.3 percent driven by double-digit growth in HUMIRA, Niaspan and Kaletra, and and 9.8 percent growth in TriCor. Abbott forecasts global HUMIRA sales of more than $4 billion in 2008.

Worldwide medical products sales increased 13.7 percent, driven by 14.3 percent growth in worldwide Diabetes Care sales, 22.0 percent growth in international diagnostics sales, and 34.7 percent growth in international Vascular sales.

In March, Abbott and Takeda announced an agreement to conclude the TAP joint venture, evenly splitting the assets. Abbott will receive full U.S. ownership of Lupron, a complementary product to Abbott's emerging oncology pipeline, as well as future cash payments over the next five years.

In the quarter, Abbott received five key regulatory approvals: HUMIRA for psoriasis and for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Simcor for cholesterol, and the FreeStyle Freedom Lite and FreeStyle Navigator glucose monitoring systems.

"Abbott started 2008 with a strong first quarter, following double-digit sales and earnings growth last year," said Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive officer. "In addition, we received five key new product approvals during the quarter. The continued productivity of our late-stage pipeline, combined with the underlying strength of our broad mix of businesses, gives us a high level of confidence in our future growth outlook."