FDA: No “immediate major impacts” expected on supply due to Pfizer’s factory damage

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday that a Pfizer drug plant that was badly damaged by a hurricane this week in North Carolina will not have “immediate significant impacts” on drug supply chains.

“We don’t expect there to be any significant immediate impacts on supply given the products are currently in hospitals and in the distribution system, but this is a dynamic situation and FDA staff is in frequent contact with Pfizer and other manufacturers,” FDA Commissioner Robert Calif said in a statement.

A manufacturing plant near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, was badly damaged by an EF3 tornado on Wednesday, with winds of about 150 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

The plant is responsible for about 25 percent of the company’s sterile injectable medications and some fear the damage will exacerbate drug shortages in hospitals across the country.

Calif said other manufacturers will be able to compensate for the loss of the facility while it is being repaired. He said there are only 10 drugs being made at the North Carolina facility, but the reserves in Pfizer’s warehouses should be sufficient to avoid any shortages.

“This incident underscores that a robust, resilient, and safe drug supply chain is essential to public health and national security,” the FDA statement read. “Redundancy at manufacturing sites…and suppliers is important to mitigate supply risks that can occur from natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts, or other unpredictable events.”

The agency said the FDA is working with Pfizer to complete a more comprehensive assessment of the hurricane damage to the facility and any impacts on supply chains in the coming days.