Abbott Laboratories to Spin Off Nutrition Business by 2027

Abbott Laboratories announced plans on October 21, 2026, to spin off its nutrition business into a separate company by the end of 2027. The new entity will manage a portfolio including Similac, PediaSure, Pedialyte, Glucerna, and Ensure, with an expected workforce of 16,000 employees and annual sales of $8.5 billion.

Existing Abbott shareholders will receive shares of the new company as part of the separation. Chairman and CEO Robert Ford stated the move allows the nutrition business to more effectively direct its strategic resources, noting that "the separation will benefit both companies."

The strategic shift follows years of regulatory and legal difficulties concerning infant formula safety. These include a $670 million settlement over allegations that formula for premature babies caused necrotizing enterocolitis and a $385 million resolution of federal and state lawsuits regarding powdered formula safety. The challenges were linked to inspections by the Food and Drug Administration at a manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Michigan, though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control stated it did not identify a definitive link between Cronobacter cases and that facility.