STAT+: Pfizer says most tornado damage at key plant hit warehouse, but finished drugs also impacted
"This is not the worst case, apocalyptic scenario of bare hospital shelves," said Erin Fox of University of Utah Health Care.
Pfizer says a tornado that ripped through a key manufacturing plant in North Carolina does not appear to have caused “any major damage” to areas that produce medicines.
The company reported most damage from the storm occurred at a warehouse that stores raw materials, packaging supplies, and finished medicines awaiting release by quality assurance personnel. As a result, it remains unclear about the extent to which destruction at the facility — which produces nearly 8% of all sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals — will exacerbate a growing shortage of prescription drugs across the country.
“Pfizer is working diligently to move product to other nearby sites for storage and to identify sources to replace damaged raw materials and supplies,” the company said in a statement, adding that alternative manufacturing sites are being explored, including those run by other manufacturers in the U.S. and abroad. The Rocky Mount site is one of 10 Pfizer manufacturing sites located in the U.S.
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