The board of Abbott Laboratories has approved a buyback for up to $3 billion worth of outstanding common shares.

The latest repurchase is in addition to an unused $795 million buyback program that was issued by the Abbott Park, Ill.-based medical-device maker's board in September 2014.

Abbott, which manufactures cardiovascular, diabetes and other devices, recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the Architect Stat High Sensitivity Troponin-I blood test. The device helps detect a heart attack faster.