The pharma spin-offs have just begun

Want to see more divestment action in Big Pharma? Just wait. That's what investment bankers are predicting, now that Pfizer ($PFE) and AbbVie ($ABBV) have led the way. After all, investors and shareholders responded strongly to Pfizer's animal-health spin-off and nutrition-unit sale--so much so that analysts are calling on CEO Ian Read for more. And AbbVie, the pharma unit spun off by Abbott Laboratories ($ABT) on New Year's Day, has seen its shares climb from a debut at $35 to $45 as of yesterday's close. Story