J&J MedTech plans manufacturing facility in Costa Rica

A rendering of J&J MedTech’s planned manufacturing facility in Costa Rica. [Image courtesy of Johnson & Johnson MedTech]

Johnson & Johnson MedTech will build a 200,000-sf² manufacturing facility in Alajuela, Costa Rica, the medical device developer said today.

It’s the largest investment J&J MedTech has ever made outside the U.S., according to Procomer, the agency that promotes Costa Rican exports.

J&J MedTech — Johnson & Johnson’s medical device business, which by itself is the world’s second-largest device manufacturer — said the plant will manufacture products across its franchises, with an emphasis on heart rhythm solutions and orthopedics. The new plant will also have space for shared services and will assess and support demand for product across J&J MedTech’s portfolio, which includes DePuy Synthes, Biosense Webster, Cerenovus, Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson Vision.

Construction starts this year on the facility, which will add around 3,000 new jobs in the region over the next three to five years, the company said.

“Nearly 300 million patients are treated with Johnson & Johnson MedTech products worldwide every year and building a new facility in Costa Rica will add to our ability to deliver more innovative life-changing products to our patients and to keep pace with the continued growth of our business,” Johnson & Johnson MedTech Latin America International VP Gustavo Galá said in a statement shared with Medical Design & Outsourcing.

J&J MedTech has done business in Costa Rica for four decades and “benefitted greatly from the country’s local talent who have specialized experience in our industry,” he continued. “We are confident that our facility in Alajuela will meaningfully evolve our capabilities and maintain our momentum for long-term growth.”

The new facility will also advance J&J MedTech’s sustainability goals, the company said, as 99% of Costa Rica’s electricity comes from renewable sources.

Medical device manufacturers are among the leading exporters in Costa Rica, which has drawn contract manufacturers and other suppliers to the Central American nation in recent years.

Johnson & Johnson MedTech selected Costa Rica over competing sites across the world, Procomer said. Costa Rica won in part due to its medical device sector, geographic location, political stability, legal certainty, incentives, and availability of qualified talent, according to the agency.

As of this publication, Johnson & Johnson only had two job openings posted for Costa Rica.