Abbott may sell off older drugs

Abbott Laboratories might sell off a group of its older drugs possibly worth more than $5 billion. The North Chicago-based drugmaker is working with Morgan Stanley to find a buyer, Reuters reports. The off-patent drugs bring in about $2 billion a year in revenue. Abbott and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Some of Abbott’s larger competitors are also looking to sell their own line-ups of legacy drugs, such as Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc., to focus on high-growth areas.

Abbott split into two companies at the end of 2012. Abbott kept the nutritional drinks for infants and adults, generic drugs, diagnostic tests and medical devices. AbbVie, the other company, is in the high-margin but riskier business of pharmaceutical research.

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via Reuters