Abbott divests 60% of its stake in Mylan

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) divested 60% of its remaining stake in Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) this week, according to regulatory filings, disposing of 44 million shares at $41.60 apiece. The trade was valued at $1.7 billion.

In 2014, Mylan bought Abbott’s generics business outside the U.S. in a deal that rang in at nearly $5.3 billion. The deal allowed Canonsburg, Penn.-based Mylan to cut its tax bill by moving its tax address outside the U.S., and Abbott received an ownership stake of 21% with 105 million shares of the company.

In the year following the initial deal, Abbott sold off 1/3 of the stock, reducing its stake in Mylan to 15%.

MYL shares were down -2.7% this morning at $40.47 apiece.

Mylan recalled 81,000 EpiPen emergency allergy auto-injectors this week after receiving 2 reports that the device failed to work in emergencies. The recall affects devices in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Japan, the company reported.

In both cases, patients received treatment using an alternate EpiPen, according to Mylan. The drugmaker also said that it is working with regulatory authorities in affected countries to inform them about the recall.

In February, Abbott touted results today from real-world use data for its FreeStyle Libre blood glucose monitoring system. The data showed that people using its FreeStyle Libre system to monitor their glucose levels spend less time in hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia and have improved average glucose levels.

More than 50,000 diabetes patients using the FreeStyle Libre system checked their glucose levels 16 times a day, on average, according to the data.

The company’s FreeStyle Libre system uses a small sensor worn on the back of the upper arm to measure glucose every minute in interstitial fluid through a filament inserted under the skin. Abbott said its system can produce a glucose reading painlessly in less than 1 second by scanning a reader over the sensor.