© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Birds are seen on the logo of generic drugmaker Perrigo Co outside their new factory in the city of Yeruham, in southern Israel March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
By Jessica DiNapoli
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Perrigo Company (NYSE:) PLC, which makes store-brand baby formulas for retailers including Walmart (NYSE:) Inc and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) expects shortages and heightened demand to last for the “balance of the year,” said CEO Murray Kessler in an interview with Reuters.
Perrigo’s formula manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Vermont are now running at 115% of full capacity, Kessler said. At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company is making only four items, the store-brand versions of Similac Pro Sensitive and Pro Advance and Enfamil Gentle Ease and Infant, Kessler said.
The infant formula maker is also working with retailers including Walmart and Target Corp (NYSE:) so they “get something each week,” Kessler said. Retailers’ allocations are based on an average of what the retailers’ received prior to “this crisis,” he said.
The closure of an Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:) infant-formula plant in Michigan exacerbated pandemic-related shortages, leading to empty shelves in big box stores and supermarkets.
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