Abbott Laboratories Rumored to Buy Production Facilities in Russia, Deal to Make History in Russia's Pharma Market

A source at the Federal Anti-monopoly Service of Russia has revealed that one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Abbott Laboratories, has filed an application to acquire the NGO Petrovax Pharm. Abbott could become the first U.S. pharmaceutical company to own production facilities in Russia. According to experts, the size of the forthcoming acquisition is certain to place the deal among the top three in the history of the Russian pharmaceutical market. Petrovax Pharm was founded in 1996 by a team of Russian flu-vaccine researchers, including Rem Petrov, Arkady Nekrasov, Natalya Puchkova, and Rakhim Khaitov. The current CEO, Professor Arkady Nekrasov, was awarded a government prize in 2002 for developing the drugs Grippol (an influenza vaccine) and Polyoxidonium (an immunomodulator). Both drugs are now part of the company’s portfolio.