Abbott paid CEO Miles White $28.3 million in 2008

Abbott Laboratories, which reported a 14 percent rise in annual sales during 2008, paid Chief Executive Officer Miles White $28.3 million in total compensation for the year, including a $4.2 million performance bonus, the company said in a regulatory filing.

White's total 2008 compensation included about $1.8 million in salary, and the bonus "intended to recognize his leadership in guiding the company's industry leading performance," according to today's filing. He was paid $33.3 million in 2007, which included a salary of $1.73 million, according to the filing.

White, 54, said in January that he is pursuing deals, particularly for nonpharmaceutical companies, that may be a bargain in the recession. Abbott, the maker of insulin pumps and heart stents for clogged arteries, last month bought Advanced Medical Optics Inc., of Santa Ana, California, the world's top maker of eye-surgery equipment, for $1.36 billion.

The strategy for the Abbott Park, Libertyville Township-based company follows Johnson & Johnson's model of pursuing a mix of drugs, medical devices and diagnostic tests as a shield against the declining economy.

The company won new uses last year for its anti- inflammatory drug Humira and in July gained approval to sell the Xience stent. The device, also sold under license by Boston Scientic Corp. of Natick, Massachusetts, has since claimed half of the U.S. stent market.

Abbott rose $1, or 2.1 percent, to $47.85 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company has fallen 10 percent so far this year. Abbott's shares declined 5 percent in 2008 compared with a 21 percent decline for the 13-member Standard & Poor's Pharmaceutical Index.