Pfizer: Some drug shortages possible due to tornado damage

More than 30 drugs could experience supply chain disruptions due to the tornado that damaged Pfizer’s plant in North Carolina, the company warned hospitals.

In a letter sent to its hospital customers last Friday, Pfizer said it identified about 65 formulations of those drugs that could experience “continued or new supply disruptions in the near-term.”

The company said those medicines, including injectable fentanyl for pain relief and the anesthetic lidocaine, have inventory levels of “less than three months across our Pfizer distribution centers and the wholesale chain.”

According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, some of the drugs listed by Pfizer were already in short supply.

Pfizer’s facility in Rocky Mount, N.C., makes nearly 25 percent of the company’s sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals. The site is one of the largest sterile injectable facilities in the world, with more than 1.4 million square feet of manufacturing space, according to the company. It makes products including anesthesia, painkillers, therapeutics, anti-infectives and surgical muscle relaxants. 

It sustained serious damage last week by an EF3 tornado, according to the National Weather Service.

Pfizer said most of the damage was caused to the warehouse facility, which stores raw materials, packaging supplies and finished medicines awaiting release by quality assurance.

The Food and Drug Administration said it does not anticipate “any immediate significant impacts on supply” because of the damage to the plant, but warned about the potential for “localized supply disruptions” because the company may limit the supply available for purchase.

Pfizer said any products that were in limited supply prior to the weather incident may still have allocations in place “that are independent of the Rocky Mount situation.”