NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced the company’s immediate efforts to provide relief and repair the damage caused to its manufacturing facility in Rocky Mount, North Carolina after a violent tornado swept through the town on Wednesday, July 19. All 3,200 local Pfizer colleagues reporting to this manufacturing site are safe and accounted for after excellent implementation of the site’s long-standing evacuation plan. Crews are working around-the-clock to restore power, assess the structural integrity of the building and move finished medicines to nearby sites for storage.
Pfizer also announced a donation to the American Red Cross North Carolina Chapter and United Way Tar River Region to support the relief and recovery needs. Additionally, the Pfizer Foundation will match employee donations to these organizations.
“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,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc. “We will work in lockstep with our partners and local authorities to restore and rebuild the site and the community.”
The site is closed while the damage is assessed. Pfizer is committed to rapidly restoring full function to the site, which plays a critical role in the U.S. healthcare system. This effort is in close partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper as well as other state, local and federal officials.
Most of the damage was caused to the warehouse facility, which stores raw materials, packaging supplies, and finished medicines awaiting release by quality assurance. Pfizer is working diligently 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 across our significant manufacturing presence in the U.S. and internationally and across the company’s partner network. After an initial assessment, there does not appear to be any major damage to the medicine production areas.
Since 1968, the Rocky Mount facility has been a key producer for sterile injectables. Currently, it is responsible for manufacturing nearly 25 percent of all Pfizer’s sterile injectables – including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers – which is nearly 8 percent of all the sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals. The site is one of 10 Pfizer manufacturing sites located in the United States.
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At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 170 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.Pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.Pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.
DISCLOSURE NOTICE:
The information contained in this release is as of July 21, 2023. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.
This release contains forward-looking information about Pfizer’s efforts to provide relief and repair the damage caused by a tornado to its Rocky Mount, North Carolina manufacturing facility that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the ability to complete repairs to the facility, replacing damaged raw materials and supplies and restoring full function to the site in the anticipated timeframe or at all; other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions; uncertainties regarding the impact of COVID-19; and competitive developments.
A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results”, as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.
