Dive Brief:
- Baxter closed a facility in North Carolina due to extensive flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, the company said on Sunday.
- A company spokesperson said Monday that there were no injuries at the facility, and Baxter is working to confirm the well-being of the more than 2,500 people who work there. “We are working around the clock to minimize potential disruptions and resume production to help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “We are assessing the extent of the damage and working to implement a plan to bring the plant back online as soon as we are able.”
- So far, Baxter is the only medical device company to call out an impact from the hurricane, J.P. Morgan analyst Robbie Marcus said in a Monday research note.
Dive Insight:
The category 4 hurricane made landfall in Florida on Thursday and left millions without power. As of Tuesday morning, The Associated Press reported that the death toll had risen to nearly 140 people across six states.
Baxter’s North Cove facility in Marion, North Carolina, makes dialysis solutions and IV fluids, and is the company’s largest manufacturing facility.
Ahead of Hurricane Helene, Baxter said it evacuated employees and proactively moved products to higher ground or secure storage, when possible.
Heavy rains and storm surge caused a levee to break, flooding the site. Bridges to the facility were also damaged, the company said in a statement.
Cell service outages in the region have challenged efforts to check on employees, the company spokesperson wrote.
Baxter is taking steps to minimize supply disruptions including managing inventory, leaning on other global manufacturing sites and establishing an allocation process for equitable product disruption. The company is also donating $1.5 million to hurricane recovery efforts.
Baxter expects the closure to affect its financial results. The company said it will be better able to provide an estimate once it has fully assessed the damage, and plans to provide an update in its third quarter earnings call.
J.P. Morgan’s Marcus wrote that the facility manufactures solutions for intravenous dialysis and a small amount of peritoneal dialysis solution. Baxter has a backup manufacturing supply for the intravenous solutions, he added.
Marcus does not expect the storm to significantly affect manufacturing operations or procedure volumes across the sector.
