The company’s worldwide pharmaceutical sales grew 17% in the quarter, while US pharmaceutical sales increased 27%. This was driven by a 50% increase in Humira’s global sales to $735 million, a 27% increase in Depakote global sales $404 million, a 19% increase in Kaletra global sales to $315 million and a 20.6% increase in TriCor sales to $302 million.
In addition, while the company’s global sales increased 16% to $6.4 billion, worldwide medical products sales increased 20% driven by double-digit growth in Abbott’s core laboratory diagnostics business, molecular diagnostics and the contribution from Abbott Vascular.
As a result of the company’s successful quarter, diluted earnings per share, excluding specified items, were $0.69, at the high end of Abbott’s previously announced guidance range of $0.67 to $0.69. Diluted earnings per share under generally accepted accounting principles were $0.63.
“Our performance this quarter was strong in both our US pharmaceuticals business and in several of our medical products businesses,” said Miles White, chairman and CEO of Abbott. “In addition, we strengthened our broad-based pipeline and advanced several key programs into later-stage development. We have five major regulatory filings that we expect to submit for approval this year. These represent significant opportunities for future growth.”