(Reuters) -Pfizer said on Monday it expects to restart production at its North Carolina plant by the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2023 as it seeks to repair tornado damage to one of the world’s largest sterile injectable drug facilities.
The facility was struck by a tornado on July 19, and Pfizer had earlier said some drugs, including painkiller fentanyl, could see a supply disruption. Pfizer has since placed limits on how much supply of those drugs its customers can buy.
Most of the damage from the tornado was to a warehouse, and not production facilities, but Pfizer had indicated it would be a monumental task to repair the damage.
On Monday, Pfizer said a temporary warehouse location has been secured to accommodate product storage. The company added it had started releasing units of product that were not impacted by the tornado to distribution centers.
Pfizer’s sterile injectable products include anesthesia, painkillers and anti-infective medicines for use in hospitals.
The number of U.S. drug shortages is already near a 10-year high, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
