Abbott Laboratories is a diversified pharmaceuticals and health care company. It has over 65,000 employees and operates in 130 countries. The corporate headquarters are in Abbott Park, Illinois, a neighborhood of North Chicago, Illinois.

Abbott Laboratories was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888. In 2003, Abbott had nearly $20 billion in sales.

In 1985, the company developed the first HIV blood screening test. The company's drug portfolio includes Humira, a drug for [[rheumatoid arthritis], plaque psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis,psoriatic arthritis and Crohn's disease, Norvir and Humira, treatments for HIV, Depakote, an anticonvulsant drug, and Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid hormone. Abbott also has a broad range of medical devices, diagnostics and immunoassay products as well as nutritional products, including 'Ensure, a line of well known meal replacement shakes.

Abbott’s in vitro diagnostics business is a world leader in immunoassays and blood screening. Abbott’s broad range of medical tests and diagnostic instrument systems are used worldwide by hospitals, laboratories, blood banks, and physician offices to diagnose and monitor diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, cancer, heart failure and metabolic disorders, as well as assess other important indicators of general health.

Abbott Point-of-Care manufactures diagnostic products for blood analysis to provide health care professionals critical diagnostics information accurately and immediately at the point of patient care. In addition to its offerings in the blood gas and chemistries segment, Abbott also provides point-of-care cardiac assays to the emergency room.