Abbott laid off approximately 175 sales reps in the US, Dow Jones reported yesterday.

The company “shifted resources” within its US pharma business, and layoffs were not related to a specific brand, Scott Stoffel, an Abbott spokesperson, told MM&M. “[The layoffs] were largely due to some shifts made in geographical territories,” said Stoffel, referring to sales rep assignment areas.

The layoffs follow the completion of Abbott’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals in February. Abbott expects the Solvay deal to bring in an additional $2.9 billion in 2010 global sales, the company said in a February statement. Stoffel told Dow Jones that there were no plans for any additional sales force cuts.

Abbott announced on Tuesday that Certriad, a combination of AstraZeneca’s Crestor and Abbott’s Trilipix, received a complete response letter from the FDA, asking that the company provide additional information on the as yet unapproved cholesterol drug.

Separately, Abbott announced the submission of a new diagnostic test for FDA review. The test, if approved, would help identify patients at risk for acute kidney injury, and would represent the first test available in the US for the detection of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin.