Abbott Opens New Facility To Meet Demand For Diabetes Technology

The state-of-the-art manufacturing site will have the highest production of FreeStyle Libre sensors in the world.

Strategy and Strength|Nov. 26, 2024

More than 6 million people in over 60 countries rely on Abbott’s technology to manage their diabetes, and global demand is growing. That’s why we recently expanded our manufacturing capacity with the launch of a new 323,000-square-foot site to produce sensors for FreeStyle Libre 3, the latest generation in our world-leading1 line of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for people living with diabetes.

Abbott’s new manufacturing facility is located in Kilkenny, Ireland, and will employ more than 800 people. Abbott has operated in Ireland for almost 80 years and is one of the country’s largest employers. Robert Ford, Abbott’s Chairman and CEO, and other members of Abbott’s leadership team attended a launch event for the new site. They were joined in Kilkenny by Ireland’s An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Simon Harris.

"This is our latest commitment to providing innovative care and supporting people with diabetes to live healthier lives," Ford said. "The state-of-the-art Kilkenny facility will have the highest production of Libre sensors in the world to help meet the growing global demand for our world-leading1 FreeStyle Libre portfolio.”

During an earnings call in October, Ford reiterated his bullish outlook for the CGM market, calling it a “mass market opportunity” with just about 10 million CGM users worldwide out of more than 500 million people with diabetes around the world. Ford said that we expect to close the year with $6 billion-plus in FreeStyle Libre sales and are exceeding our target of 15% compound annual growth.

“… We're ahead of that, and we're going to work hard to make sure that we stay ahead of that, and we continue to gain share,” he said. “We'll add $1 billion of revenue this year [and] add 1 million users.”

Diabetes Care is among the top growth drivers in Abbott’s industry-leading Medical Devices business, posting 19% organic sales growth for the first nine months of 2024. Year-to-date Diabetes Care revenue is $4.9 billion, and we are on track to achieve our target of $10 billion in annual sales of FreeStyle Libre CGM systems by 2028.

Reference:

1Data on file. Abbott Diabetes Care. Based on the number of patients assigned to each manufacturer.  

Important safety information

Product for prescription only. For Important Safety Information, please visit https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/safety-information.html

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