Nutritional product business had 5.1% Q1 sales growth and is like Abbott’s other segments, “super well-aligned to the global demographics and trends in health care,” says CEO Ford. But as it defends complaints of damages from powder formulas made at facility found with unsafe levels of bacterial contaminants, Abbott’s also targeted in litigation alleging failure to warn about risk of infants born prematurely developing necrotizing enterocolitis if fed cow’s milk-based formula.

Restructuring Edition: The industry emerged from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference feeling renewed confidence about deal-making and financing, but drug developers continue to run short on cash or cut programs and jobs before the money runs out, including Cara, PMV and Ikena.

Plus deals involving Lipocine/Verity, Vivtex/AI Proteins, Windtree/Lee’s Pharmaceutical, Biogen/Ji Xing, Sermonix/Henlius and news from the world of technology transfer.

Public Company Edition: Discussions at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 8-11 January in San Francisco should offer some insight on industry’s and investors’ expectations about the financial markets in 2024. The year started with some big financings, but also some new job cuts.