Pfizer Reveals Plans for Rocky Mount Facility
Sterile injectable plant—struck by tornado—is currently being assessed.
Pfizer unveiled the company’s efforts to provide relief and repair the damage caused to its manufacturing facility in Rocky Mount, NC, after a violent tornado swept through the town on July 19. All 3,200 local Pfizer colleagues reporting to this manufacturing site are safe and accounted for, while crews are currently working on restoring power, assess the structural integrity of the building, and move finished medicines to nearby sites for storage. The site is closed while the damage is being gauged.
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 company is working to move product to other nearby sites for storage and to identify sources to replace damaged raw materials and supplies. Pfizer is also exploring alternative manufacturing locations for production, both in the US and internationally. After an initial assessment, there does not appear to be any major damage to the medicine production areas.
Currently, the plant is responsible for manufacturing nearly 25% of all Pfizer’s sterile injectables, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers, which is nearly 8% of all the sterile injectables used in US hospitals.
“Clearly nature is strong. So too is ingenuity and the human spirit. A great deal of work needs to be done, but I assure everyone, most importantly the people of the Rocky Mount community, that we will put Pfizer’s full power behind this effort,” comments Albert Bourla, DVM, PhD, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO. “We will work in lockstep with our partners and local authorities to restore and rebuild the site and the community.”
