Tornado-damaged Pfizer plant in North Carolina restarts production
A major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant has restarted production, 10 weeks after it was heavily damaged by a tornado
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — A major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina that makes critical supplies for U.S. hospitals has restarted production about 10 weeks after it was heavily damaged by a tornado, the company announced Monday.
Getting a majority of manufacturing lines at the Rocky Mount facility back up and running is a “proud achievement,” Pfizer said in a statement. Full production across the facility's three manufacturing sites is expected by the end of the year.
Parts of the massive plant's roofs were ripped open and pallets of medicine tossed around when the tornado touched down on July 19. But most of the damage was to a storage facility for raw materials, packaging supplies and finished medicines, rather than its medicine production areas, Pfizer said. No employees were hurt.
The plant produces anesthesia and other drugs as well as nearly one-fourth of the sterile injectable medications Pfizer supplies to U.S. hospitals, the company said.
