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Pharmaceutical giant Abbott is truly a giant in the pharmaceutical industry, with sales of over $12.5 billion in 1998. The only thing that has slowed Abbott down is a weak foreign currency market that prevented the company from meeting its estimated 8 percent sales growth. In 1999, Abbott Labs has made steady efforts and acquisitions to bulk up the company's presence in various medical arenas. In June, Abbott announced that it would purchase the Alza Corporation, known for its excellent drug delivery programs and technology, for $7.3 billion in stock. The combined company will become a formidable maker of cancer and incontinence medicine, as well as the nation's leading producer of sustained-released drugs. In July, Abbott secured an agreement to acquire Perclose, the leading arterial closure device manufacturer, for an estimated $680 million. The company has operations all over the world, including Germany, Japan, and Mexico, and sells its products in over 130 countries. Abbott's international sales exceed $4.5 billion, over one-third of its total business. Keeping an eye on the future, Abbott spends 10 percent of its sales on research and development, creating the medicines of the future. The company's business can be broken down into five broad categories: nutritional, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, chemical and agricultural, and hospital products. Get your vitamins... Abbott sells an entire line of medical nutritional products, meant to promote, maintain, and restore physical health. It all started when the company merged with M&R Dietetic Laboratories of Columbus, Ohio. With M&R came the well-known baby and infant formula Similac. Now Abbott produces a whole range of products for both adult and infant nutrition. Isomil is a soy-based infant formula for lactose-intolerant children; Pedialyte maintains electrolyte levels in youngsters; Formance provides pregnant and breast-feeding women with supplemental nutrients; and Ensure is the "complete adult nutritional beverage." ...or you'll need antibiotics From simple antibiotics to complicated acronyms for AIDS-fighting drugs, pharmaceuticals are really Abbott Laboratories' bread and butter. The company produces lung surfactants to save premature babies in respiratory distress, intravenous agents to dissolve blood clots, synthetic hormones to treat prostate cancer, and vasoactive compounds to improve blood circulation. On a level that almost anyone can relate to, Abbott Laboratories is the world's No. 1 maker of the commonly prescribed and highly effective antibiotic erythromycin - for the fast relief of those tricky bronchial infections. Looking to expand its Anti-infective Franchise, Abbott has gained marketing rights from Japan's Fujisawa for Omnicef. The drug compliments the company's flagship Biaxin, offering a wider variety of treatment options for short-term infections. Abbott fights to regenerate T-cells More recently, Abbott has been at the forefront of AIDS-treatment pharmaceuticals. In 1996, the company gained FDA approval for its protease inhibitor, Norvir, in 72 days, setting a record for test-to-approval time. One year later Abbott gained approval for the drug as a treatment for children infected with AIDS or HIV. Alone or as part of the "drug cocktails" that recently have shown great promise for HIV-positive patients, protease inhibitors have been extremely successful in restoring the T-cell counts of patients. However, the company scrapped its "semi-solid" form of Norvir after officials learned of a crystalline structural problem that prevented the capsule from dissolving properly. Although the problem didn't affect sales of Norvir (which grew a brisk 70 percent during the third quarter of 1998), Abbott was relieved when in July 1999 the FDA finally approved sales of a reformulated soft-gelatin capsule form of the drug. Since that time Abbott has announced a $335 million alliance with Triangle Pharmaceuticals to market six new anti-viral products. This alliance will expand Abbott's presence in the $2 billion market for HIV treatment. In July 2000, Abbott's employment practices won the company FORTUNE magazine's ranking of one of the "50 Best Companies for Minorities" in the United States for the third year in a row. The award-winning internship programs hires more than 40 percent minority interns and the company has three specific programs to promote diversity in all aspects, from hiring to mnagement style to culture and environment.
Abbott Laboratories accepts resumes by regular mail; it does not accept faxed resumes or respond to phone inquiries. Resumes are then scanned into a central database where they are matched against the company's current needs. The company now also posts job openings on its web site. Applicants can submit their resumes electronically, in addition to having a virtual interview. Also, go to the web site for information on recruiting events and internship programs. For recent college graduates, Abbott also offers several rotational Professional Development Programs (PDPs) which introduce new hires to different areas and divisions throughout the company. This program, one employee at headquarters explains, is for "high-potential recent graduates" and rotates employees in eight-month stints. For a list of these programs, check out the company's web site at www.abbott.com/ career/contents.htm. The majority of new employees end up at the company's headquarters in the northern suburbs of Chicago. While there is a variety of opportunities at Abbott, the company prefers candidates with some background in the "hard" sciences. Abbott also has excellent summer internships for both undergraduates and graduate students, which can later lead to jobs at the company. For more information write to Abbott Laboratories, College Relations, Department 39K, Building AP51, 200 Abbott Park Road, Abbott Park, IL 60064-3500.
Conservative and stingy? "Abbott is a very established company and like many established companies, conservative in the way they do business." "Abbott is very resistant to change," observes one employee. Dress at headquarters is business formal with casual days on Monday and Friday; dress is reportedly more casual in other locations. Employees at headquarters from divisions as disparate as R&D and Information Systems also report an increase in workload in the past few years. Many Abbott employees complain about middling pay. "Abbott doesn't try to be on top as far as compensation goes, but has the philosophy of paying enough to attract and retain qualified people." And as for perks? "The medical coverage you would get as an employee is ranked dead last in surveys of employees year after year," says one disgruntled employee. "The vacation policy is pretty bad. A person doesn't get three weeks vacation until the calendar year after your 5th anniversary, and you don't get four weeks until you've completed 15 years." "There are few perks that one would consider progressive," says one female researcher. "We have no on-site day care or supportive programs for parents, no real flexible time or job sharing, very rigid policies regarding vacation time." And Abbott is cutting back on small niceties as well. "There used to be more perks than there are now. You used to get a free lunch on your birthday, you used to get a few bucks on your anniversary date. Lots of little things here and there have been dropped over the years." Lifers on board! But not all reviews are negative. One employee says, "this is a great opportunity to learn intensively about the pharmaceutical business from an industry leader." Another reports that "my own experience with Abbott is only a good one." And others describe Abbott as "fantastic" and "wonderful." Current employees advise interested applicants that Abbott Labs seeks those "who are passionate about the industry." And, although a "stable," "job-for-life" environment may not be the most exciting thing, Abbott definitely offers it - a large majority of employees surveyed mention that as a key characteristic of the company.
Thomas M. Wascoe Human Resources
Diagnostics: HIV, strep throat, and pregnancy testing;Pharmaceuticals and hospital products;Similac;Ensure;Fact Plus;Norvir;Pedialyte
Aventis More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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