Pfizer Awarded Diamond Resiliency Badge for Supply Chain Excellence

For nearly two centuries, Pfizer has been dedicated to developing medicines that change people’s lives and ensuring that people all over the globe have access to those medicines. This commitment extends beyond the discovery and production of new, more effective treatments to efficiently distributing those treatments to the people, communities, and countries that need them. We couldn’t do that without an efficient and resilient supply chain.

The strength of pharmaceutical supply chains has never been more critical than now. Unforeseen events, from natural disasters to public health crises, can disrupt the flow of essential medicines, leaving patients without access to the treatments they depend on. That’s why at Pfizer, we have built a robust and resilient supply network that adapts to a rapidly shifting environment, because patients cannot afford delays when it comes to receiving the medicines they need.

First pharmaceutical manufacturer to receive prestigious resiliency certification

Pfizer is proud to be the first pharmaceutical manufacturer awarded the Diamond Resiliency Badge from the Healthcare Industry Resilience Collaborative (HIRC). This achievement demonstrates Pfizer's commitment to ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of critical medicines to patients worldwide.

To earn the Diamond-level Resiliency Badge, Pfizer underwent a rigorous assessment across seven risk domains, including Demand Planning, Inventory Management, Logistics, Supply Chain Visibility, Supplier Management, Risk Management & Contingency Planning, and Operational Health. This included a comprehensive review of Pfizer’s key performance indicators, policies, and procedures. Evaluators also reviewed survey responses and gathered insights through interviews.

"What Pfizer has accomplished is truly remarkable.  Diamond is the exception, not the norm.  Achieving diamond across all risk domains demonstrates an outperforming maturity in supply chain resiliency," said Jesse Shafer, Executive Director, HIRC. “I strongly encourage providers to expect the Resiliency Badge for all medical products essential to patient care.  Resiliency is a strategic imperative for today's healthcare sourcing."

Resilience in practice: recovering from a tornado in Rocky Mount, NC

The Diamond Resiliency Badge recognizes Pfizer for its high-quality manufacturing capabilities and offers healthcare providers even greater confidence in the reliability of Pfizer's global supply chain network.

In 2023, a devastating tornado hit Pfizer’s Rocky Mount, North Carolina facility, an important manufacturing site producing nearly 50 medicines—accounting for approximately 25% of Pfizer’s sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals, and about 8% of the total U.S. hospital supply. Despite severe warehouse damage caused by the tornado, Pfizer's robust policies and procedures, risk mitigation, and contingency planning enabled the site to swiftly recover, and a restart of most production lines within just three months, minimizing the impact on product supply.

This rapid recovery demonstrated our commitment and capability to deliver essential medicines to patients, even in the face of adversity. It's this kind of resilience that helped Pfizer earn the highest-level HIRC badge for our exceptional supply chain operations.

A testament to Pfizer’s commitment to patients

“Receiving the Diamond Resiliency Badge from HIRC is a testament to Pfizer’s unwavering dedication to building a global supply chain that can continue to deliver despite unforeseen events,” said Mike McDermott, Chief Global Supply and Quality Officer, Pfizer. “It reinforces Pfizer's position as a trusted, reliable partner in the healthcare industry, providing confidence to patients and healthcare providers that their critical medical needs will be met, no matter what the future may bring.”

To learn more about HIRC and the Diamond Resiliency Badge, visit their website.