Abbott Laboratories /

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is a pharmaceuticals health care company. It has 72,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr. Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888. In 2008, Abbott had over $29 billion in revenue. In 1985, the company developed the first HIV blood screening test. The company's drug portfolio includes HUMIRA, a drug for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, moderate to severe chronic psoriasis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis; Norvir, a treatment for HIV; Depakote, an anticonvulsant drug; and Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid hormone. Abbott also has a broad range of medical devices, diagnostics and immunoassay products as well as nutritional products, including Ensure, a line of well known meal replacement shakes, and EAS, the largest producer of performance based nutritional supplements. Abbott's in vitro diagnostics business is a world leader in immunoassays and blood screening. Abbott's broad range of medical tests and diagnostic instrument systems are used worldwide by hospitals, laboratories, blood