Helix Medical Ventures to Costa Rica

Helix Medical has announced plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Costa Rica. Contract services provided at the new locale will include silicone extrusion, silicone molding, thermoplastic molding, and assembly. Helix signed a leasing agreement for a property located just outside of Costa Rican capital San Jose, in the Coyol Free Trade Zone and Business Park in Alajuela. The service provider expects production to begin in the first quarter of 2012.

“We chose Costa Rica to be close to our customers in Latin America,” says Andy Becker, vice president and general manager of Helix’s Carpinteria, CA, and Costa Rica enterprises. “The country offers a large medical device community with a skilled workforce as well as a good reputation for security and infrastructure.”

The company is investing more than $4 million into the project and plans to achieve ISO 13485 certification as well Class 7 and Class 8 cleanrooms. The move illustrates a growing trend toward having medical device operations in the region. Costa Rica has become a popular destination for many contract manufacturers serving the medical device industry. Helix, which is based in Carpinteria, joins a growing club of companies with facilities in Costa Rica that includes Tegra Medical, Precision Wire Components, The MedTech Group, BeamOne, and Specialty Coating Systems.