Press Release

Abbott's XIENCE V™ Drug Eluting Stent Wins Prestigious Chicago Innovation Award

Fourth Innovation Award for Abbott in Six Years Recognizes Breakthrough Treatment for the Most Common Form of Heart Disease

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October 28, 2008

Abbott Park, Illinois — Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced it has received a 2008 Chicago Innovation Award for its XIENCE V™ Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System. Based on the product's innovative design and strong clinical data, the next-generation drug eluting stent represents a significant advance in the treatment of coronary artery disease.

Abbott's XIENCE V stent was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and launched in July 2008, providing a new treatment option for the nearly 13 million Americans with coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Stents are designed to prop open an artery that has become clogged by plaque build-up and restore blood flow to the heart. A drug eluting stent releases a medication (everolimus, in the case of XIENCE V) in a controlled manner to prevent the artery from becoming blocked again following a stent procedure. XIENCE V is the only drug eluting stent to demonstrate superiority over the previous market-leading drug eluting stent in two randomized, pivotal clinical trials – and XIENCE V has become the market-leading drug eluting stent in just three months since launch.

This is the fourth Chicago Innovation Award that Abbott has received in six years. Most recently, the company's m2000™ molecular diagnostic instrument in combination with the RealTime HIV-1 viral load test received the honor in 2007. In 2005, the company's PathVysion™ breast cancer test received the honor, and in 2003, HUMIRA®, the first human monoclonal antibody drug for rheumatoid arthritis, won the award.

"At Abbott, we are proud to be in the business of developing innovative treatments that improve and save lives," said Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive officer, Abbott. "Receiving the Chicago Innovation Award is a great testament to our constant pursuit of innovation, which is driven by finding meaningful solutions – like XIENCE V – for the patients who rely on us."

Sponsored by Kuczmarski and Associates and BusinessWeek, the Chicago Innovation Awards create awareness of the contributions of Chicago-area companies and organizations in developing innovative products and services that uniquely fill unmet needs and change lives. Abbott and other awardees will be recognized at a ceremony and reception tonight at the Goodman Theatre attended by approximately 800 local business, academic and government leaders.

About XIENCE V

XIENCE V is built upon Abbott's market-leading bare metal stent, the MULTI-LINK VISION® Coronary Stent System. The VISION platform has the thinnest stent structure available and is designed to facilitate ease of delivery, making it easier for physicians to maneuver the stent and treat the diseased portion of the artery.

Long-term results with XIENCE V in the SPIRIT III pivotal U.S. clinical trial demonstrated a 45 percent reduction in the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) compared to the TAXUS® paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system at two years. XIENCE V demonstrated a 32 percent reduction in target vessel failure (TVF, cardiac events related to the stented vessel) compared to TAXUS at two years. XIENCE V also demonstrated a low rate of stent thrombosis between one and two years, defined as very late stent thrombosis, per Academic Research Consortium (ARC) definition of definite/probable stent thrombosis (0.3 percent for XIENCE V and 1.0 percent for TAXUS). XIENCE V met its primary endpoint in the SPIRIT III clinical trial with a statistically significant 50 percent reduction in in-segment late loss (vessel renarrowing) at eight months compared to TAXUS.

The XIENCE V stent is available on both over-the-wire (OTW) and rapid exchange (RX) delivery systems. Rapid exchange is the most widely used type of delivery-system because it provides physicians additional flexibility to work as single operators during stent procedures.

XIENCE V was launched in Europe and other international markets in October 2006 and is an investigational device in Japan where it is currently under review by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency.

Abbott also supplies a private-label version of XIENCE V to Boston Scientific called the PROMUS™ Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System. PROMUS is designed and manufactured by Abbott and supplied to Boston Scientific as part of a distribution agreement between the two companies.

Everolimus, developed by Novartis Pharma AG, is a proliferation signal inhibitor, or mTOR inhibitor, licensed to Abbott by Novartis for use on its drug eluting stents. Everolimus has been shown to inhibit in-stent neointimal growth in the coronary vessels following stent implantation, due to its antiproliferative properties.

Additional information about XIENCE V, including important safety and effectiveness information, is available online at www.xiencev.com.

About Abbott

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 68,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.

Media: Jonathon Hamilton Tracy Sorrentino	(408) 624-0314 (847) 937-8712
Financial: Tina Ventura	(847) 935-9390