Abbott's Humira sales hit $3 billion last year

Abbott Laboratories' anti- inflammatory medicine Humira exceeded $3 billion in global sales for the first time in 2007, chief financial officer Thomas Freyman said.

Humira's growth was driven by its U.S. approval for treating the bowel disorder Crohn's disease, Freyman said at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The drug is Abbott's biggest seller, generating $803 million for the Libertyville Township-based company in the third quarter, a 48-percent increase over the same period last year.

Humira is also sold as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, a spinal disorder. Humira is designed to block tumor necrosis factor, a protein in the body that causes inflammation. In December, the European Union approved the drug for treating the skin disease psoriasis.

"We continue to expect to deliver an accelerating rate of earnings growth in 2008," Freyman said.

Abbott gained $1.71, or 3 percent, to $57.50 Monday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.