Abbott Laboratories Inc. is cutting about 1,200 jobs at two plants where the company makes vascular products, including drug-coated stent heart devices, amid a squeeze on the overall stent market. The announcement comes days after the Abbott Park, Ill., pharmaceuticals and medical-products giant won a favorable recommendation, from an outside panel of experts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for approval of the company’s Xience stent. But the U.S. market Abbott is aiming to enter has shrunk considerably due to a reduction in overall angioplasty procedures and a shift away from coated stents due to safety concerns.
