As recovery efforts at the North Carolina plant hit by Hurricane Helene move at an “encouraging pace,” Baxter International is laying out new details on a sweeping importation plan to help critical intravenous fluids reach U.S. hospitals.
The first IV product shipments cleared by the FDA for temporary importation are set to arrive in the U.S. this weekend, Baxter said on its hurricane update page Thursday. By the end of the year, the company expects nearly 18,000 tons of product from Europe and Asia to reach the U.S.
The IV fluids will be shipped via some 200 Boeing 747 airplanes. There is a “range of time” over the coming weeks when providers may start receiving the product, Baxter explained.
All told, Baxter says it has activated seven of its plants around the world to help boost IV fluid inventory stateside.
Shipments from Baxter sites in Mexico and Spain kicked off last week, with more shipments on the way. The FDA has authorized temporary importation from five other sites in Canada, China, Ireland and the U.K.
The company is also looking at other strategies to keep IV supplies afloat, such as expiration date extension requests.
Baxter’s supply update comes after Hurricane Helene knocked out bridges and caused extensive flooding at the company’s North Cove facility in Marion, North Carolina, late last month.
The site is the largest in Baxter’s global production network and primarily manufactures IV and peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions. On the whole, Baxter supplies roughly 60% of the U.S.’ IV fluids, according to a recent media briefing by the Department of Health and Human Services.
With regards to the plant itself, the “pace of recovery … has been very encouraging,” Baxter noted on its update page this week.
The site’s more than 2,500 employees are returning to North Cove to work at near pre-hurricane staffing levels. Current efforts at the plant are largely focused on remediation efforts and equipment assessment, Baxter said.
Now, Baxter is focused on “finalizing deep cleaning of the facility” and completing reviews of its equipment for testing to resume line operations in phases.
“Our goal is to begin restarting North Cove production as soon as possible and in phases by the end of this year,” Baxter said in the update. The company cautioned that it does not yet have a timeline for when it expects manufacturing work to reach full pre-hurricane levels.
Aside from Baxter, other IV solutions manufacturers have stepped up in the wake of the storm to help stabilize supplies of key hospital fluids.
One of those manufacturers is B. Braun, which found its facility in Daytona Beach, Florida in the path of Hurricane Milton last week.
Fortunately, B. Braun’s Florida plant and a nearby distribution center “were not seriously impacted” by the second hurricane, Alli Longenhagen, the company’s director of corporate communications, told Fierce Pharma last week.
The company further confirmed last Friday that both Daytona Beach sites had reopened following a temporary closure as the storm touched down earlier in the week.