Costa Rica Positions Itself as A Leader in Innovation for The Life Sciences Industry in Latin America

The third edition of the Life Sciences Forum Costa Rica, organized by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), gathered over 450 participants including international speakers, consulting firms, international academia, researchers and corporate representatives of over 100 companies, who during two days, discussed the world’s leading industry trends of the sector and how Costa Rica continues to gain a position in the highest levels of sophistication in the life sciences industry. Recognition of the consolidated cluster of medical devices and the emerging development of research and development activities in Costa Rica, were recognized as key parts of the country’s positioning in the industry.

In 2015, Costa Rica exported US$2,2 billion in medical devices and in 2016 it is projected to reach US$2,5 billion. Nowadays, medical devices are the main industrial export product of the country, which ranks as the first exporter per capita in Latin America.

In addition, 6 of the 10 of the world’s largest cardiovascular devices companies have production facilities in Costa Rica.

Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director of CINDE, mentioned, “the Life Sciences Forum evidences the progress and good positioning of Costa Rica in the field of life sciences. During the two-day event, hundreds of representatives interacted with key suppliers, generated business appointments, learned about the industry in the country and discussed industry trends in innovative fields with world-class experts. Given the experienced development, we look to insert ourselves in research, development and innovation activities”.

The keynote speaker of the event, Kristin Pothier, Partner, Managing Director and Global Head of Parthenon at EY Life Sciences, said: We are very excited to be in a place that is predisposed for change, evolution, growth within the sector… This is the third edition of the event and I think they have really taken it to a new level.

Costa Rica has become the second largest exporter of medical devices in Latin America and it shows that they already have the expertise and human talent, which is important for companies that are planning to expand. The future of the industry is convergence, everyone is innovating and Costa Rica can take advantage of this trend.

Eric Richardson, Director for the Global Medical Innovation (GMI) track in the Master of Bioengineering (M.B.E.) program at Rice University, explained: The country has a strong collaboration between the public and private sector on academia matters. In several years of coming to Costa Rica I have seen the potential they have. Here are the necessary ingredients to make research and development, beginning with very good students and professionals.

Dr. Richardson leads the Medical Device Innovation program developed in Costa Rica thanks to a partnership with CINDE, which allows university students to learn and practice strategies of product development, clinical regulations and marketing of new products for the medical industry.

Among other joint academic initiatives, CINDE also collaborated in the implementation of the Masters in Engineering of Medical Devices by the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC) and the University of Minnesota.

The event concluded with the visit of participants to several manufacturing plants to get to know the medical devices that are produced in Costa Rica and exported worldwide first hand. (https://news.co.cr/costa-rica-positions-leader-innovation-life-sciences-industry-latin-america/51989/)