The fallout from a Pfizer factory being damaged by a tornado could put even more pressure on already-strained drug supplies at U.S. hospitals, experts say.
Wednesday’s tornado touched down near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and ripped up the roof of a Pfizer factory that makes nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals, according to the drugmaker.
Pfizer said all employees were safely evacuated and accounted for, and that it is still assessing damage.
Here’s a closer look at the possible effects.
WHAT ARE STERILE INJECTABLES?
The North Carolina plant produces injectables — like drugs used in IV infusions or that are delivered under the skin or into patient muscles.
The plant makes anesthesia drugs, anti-infectives (that typically treat things like fungal infections) and drugs that temporarily paralyze muscles. The latter are used in surgeries or intensive care units for patients who are placed on ventilators, said Mike Ganio, who studies drug shortages at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
The Pfizer site does not make or store the company’s COVID-19 vaccine or treatments Comirnaty and Paxlovid.
HOW BIG IS THE SITE?
Pfizer bought the eastern North Carolina factory in 2015 as part of its acquisition of the drugmaker Hospira.
There is more than 1.4 million square feet of manufacturing space, or the equivalent of more than 24 football fields, and 22 packaging lines.
Pfizer says well over 2,000 people work there.
HOW WILL THIS AFFECT HOSPITAL DRUG SUPPLIES?
It will likely lead to some long-term shortages while Pfizer shifts production to other locations or rebuilds, said Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health.
But the specifics of which drugs might be involved in a shortage and how long that shortage will go aren’t clear.
