For the past decade or so, arguably no company has been more active in creating a major presence in medical devices than Abbott Laboratories Inc. Beginning in the late 1990s, the company has built a leading cardiovascular device franchise through a series of acquisitions, large and small – most notably with the purchase of the Guidant Corp. interventional cardiology business – while, serially, entering spine, only to exit and swap it out for an important stake in the ophthalmology market through its recent acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (now Abbott Medical Optics Inc.). [See Deal][See Deal]
All of these moves were built on a major strategic planning initiative in medical devices that Abbott undertook a decade...
