Baxter bringing back hurricane-hit IV supply facility in stages
Adds B.Braun statement in paragraph 8
By Christy Santhosh and Kashish Tandon
Oct 9 (Reuters) -Baxter International BAX.N is bringing its hurricane-hit IV manufacturing facility in North Carolina back online in stages, with a goal of restoring 90% to 100% of customer needs by the end of the year, the company said on Wednesday.
The outage of Baxter's Marion, North Carolina plant, due to flooding from Hurricane Helene, could continue to limit the supply of intravenous fluids in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned on Wednesday.
The site makes 60% of the nation's supply of IV fluids and peritoneal dialysis solutions, or 1.5 million bags daily, according to the American Hospital Association.
The IV fluids are used to provide nutrients to the body or replenish fluids lost due to injury or illness.
Hospitals are beginning to curtail elective procedures and are reporting that they are managing closely the solution they give intravenously to each patient, Jefferies analyst Matthew Taylor wrote in a note. Managing solution includes controls on dosage, duration and flow rate.
Baxter, one of the four main U.S. suppliers of IV fluids, also supplies the product globally. It said it was increasing the U.S. allocation of its highest demand IV fluids for direct customers to 60% from 40% and for distributors to 60% from 10%, effective Oct. 9.
Germany's Fresenius FREG.DE said on Tuesday it was checking options to start new infusion-solution production lines faster than planned at a North Carolina facility to help mitigate the potential shortages.
Medtech company B. Braun Medical told Reuters it is taking immediate steps to ramp up production of IV fluids at its plants in Irvine, California, and Daytona Beach, Florida, to address the Baxter shutdown.
The U.S. health department said it was working with other domestic IV solutions manufacturers to combat the supply crunch.
HOSPITAL OPERATORS
Virginia-based UVA Health University Medical Center said it was postponing some elective surgeries for the upcoming days because of the IV fluid shortage.
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said in a statement that as a result of the interruption, "to actively conserve IV fluids, we have implemented contingency plans and are reviewing our IV needs" as they look for other ways to source IV fluids.
Hospital operator HCA Healthcare HCA.N told Reuters it currently had adequate IV fluids and had contingency plans to maintain supply. Boston-based Mass General Brigham said earlier this week that it was only receiving about 40% of its usual supply of IV fluid from Baxter.
Earlier this week, the American Hospital Association wrote a letter to President Joseph Biden, urging his government to take action to address the supply shortage.
Evercore analyst Vijay Kumar said Baxter's fourth-quarter revenue could take a 1% hit due to the site damage, but should not affect its fiscal 2025 revenue if the majority of its production was resumed by year-end.
The U.S. health agency said Hurricane Milton, expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, could also disrupt the IV fluid supply chain.
Two doses of Baxter's Dextrose solutions for low blood sugar and a saline solution were already in shortage, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website.
Hurricane Helene caused extensive damage across several states, killing more than 200 people in the deadliest named storm to hit the mainland United States since Katrina in 2005.
Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New York; Additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Mariam Sunny; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Sriraj Kalluvila and Anil D'Silva
Actifs liés
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.
