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
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
