FDA chief says baby formula shortage could last until July

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said that it will take until July for shelves to be packed with baby formula again.
• Abbott plans to reopen its Michigan plant on June 4.
• It would take six to eight weeks for infant formulas to arrive in stores once production resumes.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said Tuesday that the baby formula shortage will likely last until July.

“My expectation is that within two months we should be beyond normal, and with a plethora,” Califf said Thursday during a Senate Health Committee hearing. “It’s going to be gradual improvement up to probably somewhere around two months until the shelves are replete again,” he added.

The country is facing a baby formula shortage since February after Abbott Nutrition shut down its Michigan plant in Sturgis. Abbott, the largest manufacturer of formula in the U.S., issued a recall for certain products after the FDA started an investigation in February due to safety concerns.

The FDA received complaints of bacterial infections related to Abbott powdered formula manufactured at the Sturgis plant.

In May, the FDA reached an agreement with Abbott to reopen its Michigan plant to restart the production of baby formula.

According to the company, it plans to reopen the Sturgis facility on June 4 and start delivering specialty formula EleCare on June 20.

Abbott said it would take two weeks to reopen its plant and an additional six to eight weeks to get the product onto shelves.

Last week, President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to address the baby formula shortage in the country.

Around 78,000 pounds of baby formula were flown in from Germany via military aircraft and arrived in Indiana on Sunday.

The FDA said that about 500,000 additional cans of specialized medical formula made in the U.K. and Germany are being shipped to the U.S. to help contend with the shortage.

“We have made tremendous progress, including notable steps in just the past week, which will allow us to immediately begin bringing specialty and infant formula products into the U.S. as quickly as possible,” Califf said in a statement.

“It is our goal to ensure that hospitals, specialty pharmacies and retail store shelves will begin seeing adequate supplies again in the coming weeks.”

Source: Axios