Executive Summary

Abbott's recent co-promotion with Boehringer Ingelheim is just one more in a series of events to suggest that its new top managers are bringing big changes to this tradition-bound company. In particular, Abbott no longer seems to be forcing deals to pass extraordinary economic hurdles (its finance department always used high cost estimates and low revenue projections to vet potential in-licensing candidates). The company's recognizing that with its anemic pipeline and more aggressive licensers, it's going to have to ante up to stay in the game.