This news came over the wire via the Associated Press (AP) at 3:33am this morning:

BRUSSELS (AP) — Solvay, the Belgian chemicals and drugs maker, announced Monday it would sell its entire pharmaceutical business to Abbott Laboratories for euro4.5 billion ($6.6 billion) in cash.

The deal could be even richer than that if certain targets are met and the whole thing has to be cleared by antitrust authorities in Europe and America. But of chief interest to me is why Abbott Laboratories is interested in acquiring this unit of Solvay. A figure of no less importance than Abbott’s Chairman and CEO provides the insight:

Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive of Abbot Laboratories said the deal “expands our presence in key high-growth emerging markets,” and boosts R&D investments… “In anticipation of future market needs, we are ensuring we have the technologies, products, infrastructure and reach to serve patients globally,” White said in a statement.

But will Abbott Laboratories  have the technology and reach to serve emerging markets driving a new set of international product marking standards in healthcare products and devices via GS1? I think that’s a pretty fair bet since as you can see here they are on this list of GS1 Healthcare US  member companies. I think Miles White knows exactly what he is doing and why, don’t you?

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