Tornado Rips Apart Pfizer Plant, Injures 16 in North Carolina

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said on Wednesday its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, which is one of the largest sterile injectable product facilities in the world, has suffered heavy damage from a tornado.

A company spokesperson in an emailed statement confirmed that the Rocky Mount facility was damaged and the drugmaker was assessing the situation to determine the impact on production.

The company’s employees at the site were able to evacuate and are safe, the statement added.

The facility, which produces nearly 30% of all sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals, also focuses on manufacturing a variety of products like anti-infectives, neuromuscular blockers as well as vials and syringes.

The Rocky Mount facility employs more than 4,500 people, according to Pfizer’s website.

Some 16 people in two counties, Nash and Edgecombe, near the plant, were injured by the tornado, The Weather Channel reported. The National Weather Service said the storm was the first known EF3 to hit that part of the state in the month of July.

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey planned to tour the area Thursday afternoon and the Department of Insurance will set up a victim assistance center to assist policyholders affected by the storm, his office said.

Photo: Damage after a 2021 tornado hit Brunswick County, North Carolina, about 150 miles south of Rocky Mount. (Ken Blevins/The Star-News via AP)