Pfizer Plant In North Carolina Restarts Production After Tornado Damage

(RTTNews) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE) said Monday that it has restarted the majority of its manufacturing lines at the Rocky Mount, North Carolina facility following severe damage from a tornado that hit the site on July 19. It expects operations to fully resume by the end of this year. But some medicines may not be back in full supply until next year.

The resumption of production includes the launch of one line in the site's new sterile injectable manufacturing area referred to as R3, a state-of the-art module approved earlier this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to the company, production restart has been prioritized based on patient need and inventory levels. There are approximately 13 medicines in production on the lines that have restarted, including products that are currently available through Pfizer's emergency ordering process. The first shipments of these medicines to distribution centers are anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The impact of the tornado on the site is expected to affect the supply of medicines from the Rocky Mount facility until at least mid-2024.

Established in 1968, the Rocky Mount site has more than 3,000 full-time employees and contractors. The Rocky Mount facility produces nearly 50 medicines, including anesthesia, analgesia, and micronutrients. These medicines comprise about 25 percent of Pfizer's sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals, equating to approximately eight percent of the total U.S. hospital supply.