Following the release of Q4 2021 financials from Abbott Laboratories;

Chris Onderisin, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“A steady rise in sales of COVID-19 rapid diagnostics has allowed Abbott Laboratories to increasingly gain ground in the global in vitro diagnostics market, which GlobalData values at $54.4 billion in 2021. The pandemic has transformed the in vitro diagnostic market in the past two years and its impact on Abbott cannot be understated. Abbott posted its single largest quarter for rapid diagnostics, capturing over $2.6 billion in sales for the fourth quarter and driving growth of over 95% for rapid diagnostics overall in 2021.

“Despite successful vaccination campaigns and the roll-out of booster immunizations in many countries globally, the Omicron variant has sustained significant demand for COVID-19 testing. Sales of rapid diagnostics such as BinaxNOW, ID Now, and PanBio have catapulted Abbott’s Rapid Diagnostics segment, which has quadrupled in sales since 2019. Rapid diagnostics brought in nearly 20% of all revenues for Abbott in 2021, with US sales in this area alone surpassing the company’s entire pharmaceutical segment.

“Ultimately, Abbott won’t be able to rely on this level of growth in the long-term. The United States has led the world in confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide for some time now, but many states are now re-implementing measures including mask mandates to help curb the spread. Abbott’s international market for rapid diagnostics declined from its height in the first quarter and has been flat overall in the back end of 2021. With conventional wisdom on viral evolution suggesting that COVID will fade to an endemic disease eventually, Abbott will have to look elsewhere for future growth opportunities.”

Abbott forecasts COVID-19 revenues of $2.5 billion for 2022, with the bulk of sales occurring early in the year.