In closing arguments on Wednesday, plaintiff's lawyer Timothy Cronin asked jurors for $6 billion in punitive damages.

The Whitfield family legal case was just one of many still pending relating to the necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) disease.

The infant formula manufacturers were facing $6.2bn in punitive damages over allegations their infant formula products caused a potentially life-threatening intestinal disease in a prematurely-born baby.

After the verdict and the "overwhelming societal support of infant formula, we think its prudent to lower the liability exposure and raise the odds of an Abbott victory in the trials, or at least improve the company's negotiating power in a settlement," J.P.Morgan analyst Robbie Marcus said in a note.

Abbott and Reckitt's unit Mead Johnson are not responsible for a young boy's debilitating intestinal disease, a jury found on Thursday in a lawsuit that accused the companies of failing to warn of the risks of premature baby formulas.

Abbott Laboratories and a unit of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc were cleared by a jury over claims they hid risks their premature-infant formulas can cause a bowel disease that severely sickened a baby boy.