Baxter Restarts IV Solutions Manufacturing Line in Wake of Hurricane Helene

Baxter has released further updates on their resumption of operations at the North Cove site after Hurricane Helene impacted it significantly.

Baxter has “restarted the highest-throughput IV solutions manufacturing line. At its peak operation (prior to Hurricane Helene), this line represented approximately 25% of the site’s total production and approximately 50% of the site’s production of one-liter IV solutions, the most commonly used size by hospitals and clinics.” They note that “the earliest that new North Cove product could start to ship is late November.”

The first temporary bridge built has “already transported more than 885 truckloads of finished product off site and to customers” as well. In addition, they have begun to expand support for “new peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients on a limited basis, beyond the highly restricted medical exceptions to date, to help providers address urgent medical needs.”

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra also released a statement in response to Baxter announcing the restart of its IV solution manufacturing. In the statement, he said that “the output from the restarted line…will supplement product that is being imported from abroad in accordance with temporary grants of regulatory flexibility from FDA.”