Abbott, a global health care company headquartered in suburban Chicago, IL. has been devoted since it was founded more than a century ago to discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products.

In biologics, Abbott is pursuing monoclonal antibody-based approaches to disease treatment. At Abbott Bioresearch Center founded in 1989 in Worcester, MA, scientists are working on discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapies for oncology, immunology, neuroscience/pain, and metabolic disease/diabetes.

The company's leading biologic is:

Humira (adalimumab). Humira is the only fully human monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis in the U.S. and Europe. Humira resembles antibodies normally found in the body, and works by blocking tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), a protein that plays a central role in the inflammatory responses of autoimmune diseases.

*Information above taken from materials provided by Abbott.