i-Stat's New Mainstream Partner: Abbott

i-Stat Corp., a leader in the point of care diagnostics business, is teaming up with Abbott Diagnostics to sell its hand-held POC devices to hospitals and clinics. The deal signals a change of heart on the part of both companies: Abbott has been sitting on the sidelines of the non-blood glucose POC market, watching it evolve, while i-Stat early on gained a reputation for trying to bypass laboratories in favor of selling directly to other hospital departments. Now, Abbott, which has a strong hold on clinical labs, will be taking over responsibility for all i-Stat sales, with the exception of territories carved out by another i-Stat partner, Hewlett-Packard.