Baxter exits China IV products market, focuses on U.S. shortages

Baxter recently stopped selling IV products in China as it continues its efforts to address hurricane-related supply shortages in the U.S.

In a statement shared with Pharmaceutical Processing World, the Deerfield, Illinois–based company said: “After careful consideration, and given the numerous alternative IV solution suppliers that exist in the Chinese market, Baxter has suspended commercial activities for its IV solutions portfolio in China.

“For several months, Baxter had been reviewing our business model to better leverage our footprint in China; the urgent need to support patient care in the U.S. expedited our decision to suspend the promotion and selling of IV solutions in China. At this time, the rest of our portfolio remains unimpacted by this decision and Baxter’s commitment to core strategic focus areas in China remains intact.”

The move comes as Baxter works with the FDA to use more of the company’s global manufacturing network to help mitigate potential supply problems in the U.S.

In late September, the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina with heavy rain and flooding. The devastation caused the outage of Baxter’s largest plant: its North Cove site in Marion, North Carolina. Opened in 1972, the 1.4-million-square-foot North Cove facility is the largest manufacturer of intravenous and peritoneal dialysis products in the United States, according to the company.

Since the North Cove plant went offline, hospitals across the country have faced disruption in the supply of some sterile intravenous fluids used in everything from drug delivery to intravenous dialysis.

Baxter recently announced that it has restarted the highest-throughput IV solutions manufacturing line at North Cove. The company says its goal remains to return to 90% to 100% allocation of certain IV solution product codes for U.S. customers by the end of the year.