Report: Abbott may sell off flu vaccine unit

NEW YORK Abbott Labs may sell off its flu vaccine business, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Abbott could make up to $614 million from the sale of the business, which it acquired when it bought out Belgium-based Solvay Pharmaceuticals.

Solvay’s vaccine Influvac, which it markets outside the United States, had $197 million in sales last year, according to Reuters. According to Solvay’s website, Influvac is a sub-unit vaccine, made from inactivated purified surface fragments from three strains of the influenza virus, and has been on the market since the early 1980s.