Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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So, we are being thought about how we make these placements and how we expand. The – one of the areas that recovered really nicely and I talked about in the opening comments was on blood banks. As you know, we are a market leader over here. So, as the blood bank business and as people come back to doing blood donations and plasma donations, we disproportionately benefit from that, not only here in the U.S. and around the world. So, our big focus here is really to look at the assays and the tests that are missing on the menus and focus the R&D spend to be able to close those gaps. And that was one of the areas that we did during COVID was while one portion of the diagnostic business is working on the COVID testing, the other group was receiving investment to be able to develop new assays to be able to layer on.

And that Marie is extremely – it’s a very important strategic driver for us because you have got the capital that’s been placed out in the instrument, so we could add more assays that comes with a much higher margin profile. So, that’s our key area of focus. Molecular is an area of focus. We have been working on expanding the menu in molecular also. And then point of care, one of the most exciting assays that the team has developed for point of care is a rapid test for traumatic brain injury, so for concussion testing. We have got it approved on a plasma sample. We are doing all the work to be able to get it on a whole blood sample, which can then go through a clear waiver test. And then ultimately, you have got now a handheld 15-minute test, blood test to be able to rule out a concussion that could be – you can imagine the applications of that kind of test around the world, but specifically a lot in terms of this country.

So, that’s a lot of our focus in diagnostics.

Marie Thibault: That’s great. Congrats on the great quarter.

Robert Ford: Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Matt Miksic from Barclays. Your line is open.

Matt Miksic: Hi. Thanks so much for taking the question. I have one clarification on some of the topics that came up earlier, and then just hopefully one of the kind of pipeline questions. So, on lot of things going on and CGM and wearables, as you talked about, Robert, and just to kind of separate these out so that we can understand exactly how this will play together maybe over the next 18 months, 24 months, Libre 3, Lingo and sort of – and ketone. So Lingo you mentioned filing end of the year. Wondering if that’s still ketones and lactates for that product? And then if there is a path forward that includes ketones, for kind of the core CGM Libre 3? And then I have one just quick pipeline question, if I could.

Robert Ford: Sure. Yes, the Lingo product that was launched yesterday. It was really starting off with a glucose only component to it. We had a lot of debate about this, and we wanted to start off simple the opportunity to add ketones to that is definitely in the mix, Matt. There is going to be a lot of learning here for us as we, like I say, market a product to a healthy population, and there is going to be a lot of learnings about that. But the idea, as I have laid out that see as a couple of years ago is that we will have a pipeline of different analytes that will come into this. Lactate is on the menu also. The team has figured that out. There is an interesting application for lactate both in the consumer market, but also in the institutional market for continuous lactate monitoring.

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