Abbott Laboratories said second-quarter profit was up...

Abbott Laboratories said second-quarter profit was up 9%, with improved sales in all of the company’s drug and health products categories.

The North Chicago, Ill.-based company said net earnings for the quarter were $377 million, or 46 cents per share, contrasted with $346 million, or 42 cents, for the 1993 quarter. Sales for the period were $2.20 billion, up 6% from $2.07 billion a year ago. Worldwide sales of pharmaceutical and nutrition products were up 9% from last year; sales of hospital and laboratory products were up 3%.

The company said it expects a substantial payoff from two second-quarter developments: an agreement with Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. to cross-license each other’s gene-amplification technologies, and the introduction of a diagnostic system for medium- and high-volume laboratories to produce faster results from various medical tests.