Oct 24 (Reuters) - Medical device maker Baxter

said on Thursday it expects to restart the highest-throughput

intravenous solutions manufacturing line at a hurricane-hit

plant in North Carolina within the next week.

The temporary closure last month of the Marion site, which

makes 60% of the nation's supply of IV fluids and peritoneal

dialysis solutions as per the American Hospital Association, had

triggered a shortage of intravenous products.

"I am encouraged by reports that Baxter anticipates

restarting the highest throughput manufacturing line at Baxter's

North Cove facility next week - sooner than originally

expected," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Baxter also said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had

authorized temporary imports from the company's two other

manufacturing facilities, in Thailand and Singapore, as it works

to bring the North Carolina plant back online.

Earlier this week, the company said it aimed to restore the

number of new patients who can start using its peritoneal

dialysis solutions to pre-Hurricane Helene levels by the end of

the year.

Baxter has said it targets to return to 90% to 100%

allocation of certain IV solutions by the end of 2024.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing

by Devika Syamnath and Sriraj Kalluvila)