2023 North Carolina Pfizer Plant Damaged by Tornado
Response
Healthcare Ready is currently ENGAGED regarding reported damage to the Pfizer plant. We are monitoring supply chain needs and community impact with the assistance of our private and public sector partners..
Overview
- Around noon on July 19, an EF2 tornado hit Nash and Edgecombe counties in North Carolina.
- The event caused extensive damage to a Pfizer manufacturing facility responsible for producing 25 percent of all sterile injectables used in US (United States) hospitals.
- As of 4:30 pm EST, there are several reports of injuries, however, no fatalities.
- Emergency response teams are currently assessing damage, removing debris, and restoring power to the areas affected.
- Damage to the Pfizer manufacturing facility is significant given current trends in drug shortages across the nation, including several critical products, such as penicillin used to treat syphilis in pregnant women. (See our coverage on the penicillin shortage.)
- Healthcare Ready will report on downstream impacts on the healthcare supply chain as more information becomes available over the next few days.
Situation Overview
- Pfizer’s Rocky Mount facility in North Carolina. It is one of the world’s largest sterile injectable facilities, with over 400 million units being produced annually.
- It is unclear which sterile injectable products are most affected by the damage.
- According to the facility website, the site produces a wide variety of products, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives, and neuromuscular blockers. (See Pfizer’s portfolio of sterile injectables.)
- Sterile injectables include a variety of injectable medications, including ready-to-use surgical and critical care products.
- Pfizer confirmed that at least 50,000 pallets of medicine were impacted by tornado-inflicted damage when the facility’s roof was torn off.
- The facility spans over 1.4 million square feet (about half the area of a large shopping mall) on a 250-acre plot in Eastern North Carolina.
Healthcare Ready's Role During the Damaged Pfizer Plant
Healthcare Ready works to monitor and evaluate the situation around the damage and provide analysis of their implications. We aim to provide information across sectors to supply information to all parties involved or impacted. Healthcare Ready is focusing efforts on highlighting challenges and supporting solutions to these challenges from the damages. Healthcare Ready produces bi-monthly situation reports including collected information and analysis on supply chain impacts from the point of manufacturing and production to distribution, to pharmaceutical delivery to patients.
