Abbott cancels potential sale of flu-vaccine business

Abbott Laboratories, after acquiring Solvay SA's pharmaceutical unit, has canceled plans for a sale of the flu vaccine part of the business, said spokesman Scott Stoffel.

Abbott, based in Libertyville Township, said in June that it was considering divesting the unit that sells Influvac vaccine, which had 2009 sales of 162 million euros ($207.7 million), Stoffel said. The drugmaker gained the unit as part of its purchase of Brussels-based Solvay's pharmaceutical unit in February for about 4.8 billion euros.

"We explored the potential to sell it, and we determined it was in the best interest of both Abbott and the vaccine business to retain it and integrate it into the company," Stoffel said in a telephone interview today. He declined to comment further on the company's reasons for canceling the potential sale.

The move was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

Abbott rose 34 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $50.61 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 6.3 percent this year.