(RTTNews) - Abbott Laboratories Inc. (ABT: News ), a diversified healthcare company, is slated to report its first-quarter earnings for 2009 on Wednesday before the market opens. The company continues to benefit from the expanding uses of its lead arthritis drug Humira and the U.S. launch of Xience V, a profitable drug-coated stent.

Analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters expect the company to earn $0.70 per share on revenue of $7.06 billion for the quarter.

In the first quarter of 2008, Abbott's net earnings climbed to $937.8 million or $0.60 per share from $697.5 million or $0.45 per share in the comparable quarter a year before. Quarterly net sales were $6.76 billion, up from $5.95 billion a year before.

Last year, Humira raked in $4.5 billion in global sales and the company expects the drug's worldwide sales to increase more than 25% in 2009. Humira, which was originally approved by the FDA for rheumatoid arthritis in 2003, has since been approved for five additional indications.

According to Abbott, Xience V, which was launched in July 2008 in the U.S., has gained significant market share and it was the market-leading drug eluting stent in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Seeking to expand its growing medical device business, early this year, Abbott acquired Advanced Medical Optics for $22 per share in cash, for a total transaction value of approximately $2.8 billion, inclusive of estimated net debt at the time of closing. Globally, Advanced Medical Optics holds the number one position in LASIK surgical devices, the number two position in the cataract surgical device market and the number three position in contact lens care products. The transaction is expected to be neutral to ongoing earnings per share in 2009 and accretive beginning in 2010.

Abbott Labs has been building on its cholesterol-lowering franchise and consolidating its position with the acquisition of Kos Pharmaceuticals. The acquisition of Kos Pharma in 2006 for $3.7 billion helped Abbott add Kos' cholesterol-lowering drugs Niaspan (niacin) and Advicor (niacin plus lovastatin) to its arsenal. The company also gained the rights to another cholesterol-lowering medication Simcor, a new combination pill. Late last year, the FDA cleared Abbott's cholesterol drug TriLipix, the first fibrate to be combined with a statin for treating unhealthy cholesterol levels.

Abbott and British drug maker AstraZeneca plc (AZN) are working together to develop a fixed-dose combination of TriLipix and Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium). Crestor is AstraZeneca's blockbuster cholesterol drug. The companies plan to submit a new drug application for the combo drug to the FDA in the second half of 2009. The companies also have an agreement to co-promote rosuvastatin calcium in the United States.

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