Fresenius looking to boost output after hurricane damage at rival Baxter

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany's Fresenius said it was checking options to speed up the start of new production lines of medical equipment at a North Carolina facility to help mitigate potential shortages from hurricane damage to rival Baxter's site in the same state.

"We are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Shortage Staff, which is actively engaged with Baxter and other manufacturers" to assess whether and by how much capacity has to be increased, Fresenius said in a statement.

The Germany-based healthcare group said its generic hospital drugs unit Fresenius Kabi had recently started manufacturing intravenous (IV) solutions at a new facility in Wilson, North Carolina, and that it was checking options to start up more production lines faster than planned in the unaffected location.

"Such a ramp-up of U.S. production at our Wilson site would take several months and would not be sufficient to make up for a prolonged loss of production by Baxter," the German company added.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar on Tuesday urged the Department of Health and Human Services to address the shortage "as quickly and safely as possible" and coordinate with the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to prevent the distribution of counterfeit IV solutions.

Hurricane Helene slammed into the Florida Gulf coast in late September, ripping up roads, tossing homes about and severing lines of communication through southeastern U.S. states. In its wake, hundreds of people were unaccounted for and many confirmed dead.

On Sept. 29, medical device maker Baxter said its North Cove site had been affected by hurricane-related flooding and was closed for production. It said it was working with the government to assess the damage and bring the plant back online as quickly as possible.

Baxter said in a statement on Monday it was working with government agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on special importation requirements for certain sites and products located outside the United States.

"We have moved finished goods from our North Cove site that were not impacted by the storm and are inspecting other finished goods onsite. This inventory will be used to support current allocations in the short term," Baxter said.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Christy Santhosh and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru;Writing by Friederike Heine Editing by Madeline Chambers and Devika Syamnath)