On this aerial image, damage is seen at a Pfizer pharmaceutical factory after a tornado hit the ability two days earlier, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, July 21, 2023.
Sean Rayford | Getty Images
Pfizer on Monday said it has restarted most production lines at a drug manufacturing plant that was severely damaged by a tornado two months ago, but added that some medicines from the ability could also be briefly supply until a minimum of mid 2024.
In a press release, Pfizer stressed that it has only made the “first step toward full recovery” of its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The corporate expects the ability’s operations to totally resume by the top of the yr.
The Rocky Mount plant supplies nearly 8% of all sterile injectable medicines utilized in U.S. hospitals, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers. The power also manufactures about 25% of the corporate’s drugs in that category.
Pfizer in August warned hospitals that some medicines could see supply disruptions.
One injection from the plant was briefly supply as of late last month, based on a database from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. It was a form of sodium chloride injection, which is used to replenish water and salt lost in consequence of certain conditions.
Pfizer on Monday said it has restarted production of about 13 medicines, which were prioritized based on “patient need and inventory levels.” The corporate didn’t specify which drugs those are.
Pfizer said additionally it is continuing to observe emergency request orders for certain medicines manufactured on the Rocky Mount plant. The corporate implemented the emergency ordering process in August to administer the distribution of 12 drugs “in high medical need.”
Pfizer’s announcement comes because the U.S. is already facing an unprecedented shortage of drugs, starting from ADHD pills to pain medicine to injectable cancer therapies. Those shortages are driven by manufacturing quality control issues and surges in demand, amongst other aspects.