Pfizer Inc. said late Monday that it has restarted production at a North Carolina facility badly damaged by a tornado in July, but warned that some medications will not be in "full supply" until next year.
A tornado ripped through the Rocky Mount, N.C., site on July 19, with most of the damage concentrated in a warehouse area storing finished drugs. The Pfizer $(PFE)$ site produces nearly 50 drugs, including anesthesia, painkillers and micronutrients, equal to about 8% of the total U.S. hospital supply of sterile injectable medicines.
Most manufacturing lines have resumed production, but that is "only the first step toward full recovery for the plant," the company said in a statement.
Pfizer said it will phase-in the production restart, with priority given to certain drugs based on patient need and inventory. There are about 13 medicines in production on the lines that have restarted, including products that are currently available through Pfizer's emergency ordering process, it said. First shipments are expected by the end of the year.
"While manufacturing has resumed, it is important to note that some medicines may not be back in full supply until next year," the company said, adding that it defines "full supply" as enough stockpiles to meet historical demand projections plus several weeks of a "safety stock" in distribution centers.
"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," it said.
The company will keep the ongoing emergency-request ordering process out of an "abundance of caution" to manage the inventory of products in high medical need.
Shares of Pfizer have declined 36% so far this year, compared with an advance of about 13% for the S&P 500 index SPX.
