NEW DELHI: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is exploring alternative manufacturing arrangements after severe flooding forced the closure of a joint-venture facility in India producing injectable cancer treatments, threatening to worsen existing chemotherapy shortages in the United States.
The Zydus Hospira Oncology facility in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has remained shut since heavy monsoon rains flooded the plant on July 23, 2026, damaging laboratories, production areas and manufacturing equipment.
Pfizer said its approximately 150 employees at the facility were safe and accounted for, but restoring operations would require extensive assessments and repairs.
The company estimates that new supplies could become available gradually from mid-to-late 2028 under its best-case scenario.
The facility, jointly operated by Pfizer and Zydus Cadila, has an annual production capacity of seven million vials and supplies medicines to the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, Canada and other Asia-Pacific markets.
US Chemotherapy Shortages Raise Concerns
The prolonged shutdown is already affecting supplies of several injectable cancer medicines.
According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), manufacturing delays linked to the flooding have contributed to shortages of cytarabine, irinotecan and bleomycin injections.
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Existing supplies of certain cytarabine and irinotecan products could be exhausted by the end of 2026 or during the first quarter of 2027.
Affected Pfizer products may then remain unavailable throughout the rest of 2027.
The development raises concerns for healthcare providers and patients who depend on these medicines for cancer treatment.
Pfizer Explores Alternative Manufacturing
Pfizer said it was making efforts to restore supplies while assessing alternative production sites across its global manufacturing network and considering third-party manufacturing arrangements.
The company also operates two other manufacturing facilities in India, including a sterile injectables plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, with an annual production capacity of approximately 380 million vials.
However, Pfizer has not confirmed whether these facilities will be able to replace production lost at the Ahmedabad plant.
The prolonged disruption highlights the vulnerability of global pharmaceutical supply chains to extreme weather events, particularly when manufacturing facilities produce essential medicines for multiple international markets.
