On July 19, an EF-3 tornado touched ground in Rocky Mount and damaged one of the nation’s largest drug manufacturing facilities. The plant supplied a fourth of Pfizer’s sterile injectables for hospitals, and it accounted for 8 percent of the hospital injectables market.
The plant was the sole supplier of less than 10 drugs, but “a number of these are specific formulations for which there should be substitutes or for which many weeks’ worth of stock should be available in Pfizer’s other warehouses,” the FDA said.
Pfizer said July 21 that most of the damage was to the facility’s storage unit rather than the manufacturing side. The company put its products on “strict allocation” to prevent hoarding, according to the FDA, which could lead to local supply issues.
Disclosure laws prevent the agency from sharing a list of products made at the North Carolina site.
The agency said it is working to minimize patient care disruptions after this event by evaluating what products are in Pfizer’s other warehouses and what wholesalers and distributors have in storage.
The FDA said it asked other manufacturers to ramp up production of products made at the facility that are already in or could be in shortage.
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.