LatinNews Daily - 14 February 2024

*US-headquartered Freudenberg Medical, a global contract design and manufacturing (CDMO) partner to the medical device and biopharma industry, has announced it is to establish a second manufacturing site in Costa Rica with a US$25m investment. According to a statement by the firm, the new facility, which will become operational in the beginning of 2025, will be dedicated to the assembly of high-volume minimally invasive catheters for electrophysiology, vascular and structural heart therapies, and other medical devices. In the first phase, the new facility will cover 50,000ft². Within three years of opening, a further 50,000ft² will be added. The statement adds that the new facility will be in close proximity to the company’s existing 30,000ft² manufacturing facility which was established in 2012 in the Coyol Free Zone, Alajuela municipality, Alajuela province. During 2025, the existing facility will become Freudenberg Medical’s specialised Costa Rica site for primary processing technologies including moulding and extrusion of thermoplastics for medical applications, while assembly operations will be moved to the new facility. The statement cites Róger Gómez, VP/General Manager of Freudenberg Medical in Costa Rica as saying “in the next three years we will triple the number of employees from the current 300 to over 900 team members”. Official figures released last month show that the medical devices sector is the country’s leading export sector, accounting for 42% of total exports in 2023 and posting 28% growth year-on-year.