Medical-supply company looks to fill gaps as former supplier restarts production of vials
Shares of Becton Dickinson & Co. bounced back Wednesday toward their first gain in seven sessions after the Food and Drug Administration addressed supply issues surrounding blood-culture vials.
The medical-supply company’s stock rose 0.9% in afternoon trading to reverse an earlier intraday loss of as much as 1.2%.
The stock BDX, +1.08% dropped 5.2% amid a six-day losing streak to close Tuesday at a 20-month low. A higher close Wednesday would mark only the second gain over the past 13 sessions.
In a letter to healthcare providers, the FDA said a disruption in the supply of Becton Dickinson’s BD Bactec blood-culture-media bottles is expected to negatively affect patient diagnosis, follow-up patient management and antimicrobial stewardship efforts.
“The FDA recommends laboratories and healthcare providers consider conservation strategies to prioritize the use of blood culture media bottles, preserving the supply for patients at highest risk,” the FDA said.
Becton Dickinson followed with its own statement regarding the supply issue, saying it was “taking all available measures” to help boost supply.
In June, the company had warned about the expected supply issue, saying it was seeing reduced availability of plastic bottles from its supplier for “several months,” which prevented it from making enough BD Bactec vials to fully meet global demand.
On Wednesday, the company said that as a stopgap measure, its former supplier of glass vials would restart production to help fill gaps in supply.
“While this supplier issue is not expected to have a material financial impact on BD, we are fully focused on returning the supply of blood culture vials to normal levels,” said Nikos Pavlidis, president of BD Diagnostic Solutions.
Becton Dickinson’s stock has dropped 8.4% year to date, while the Health Care Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund XLV has gained 6.9% and the S&P 500 index SPX has advanced 17.8%.