Costa Rica’s reputation as a leading destination for medical-device manufacturing continues to strengthen—not only through the arrival of new multinational companies, but also through the reinvestment of companies already operating in the country.
In 2025, Theragenics, Cirtec Medical, Freudenberg Medical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and ECI expanded their operations at Coyol Free Zone, reinforcing the industrial park’s role as a center for life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and supply-chain development.
These investments illustrate why life sciences leaders in Costa Rica increasingly view the country as more than a location for manufacturing operations. Costa Rica is becoming a platform for expanding production, introducing advanced technologies, developing specialized talent, and supporting increasingly sophisticated products.
Reinvestment Signals Long-Term Confidence
For an established multinational manufacturer, reinvesting in an existing operation represents a significant vote of confidence. Companies have alternatives worldwide, yet these five businesses chose to deepen their commitment to Costa Rica.
The investments are generating several benefits:
- Greater production capacity.
- New and more sophisticated manufacturing processes.
- Stronger supply chains.
- Additional skilled employment.
- Greater use of digital technologies.
- Expanded capabilities for high-value medical products.
According to Jorge Monge Víquez, director general of CODE Development Group, the co-developer of Coyol Free Zone, the expansion of these companies reflects confidence in both Costa Rica and the industrial ecosystem that has developed there.
“The combination of specialized talent, first-class infrastructure, and an environment conducive to innovation” allows companies to continue expanding and developing more complex processes.
That combination is particularly important for life sciences leaders in Costa Rica, whose operations often require highly trained workers, stringent quality controls, specialized equipment, and reliable suppliers.
Theragenics Expands Specialized Medical Manufacturing
Theragenics is one of the clearest examples of this reinvestment trend. The company invested US$10 million to establish a new facility at Coyol Free Zone dedicated to manufacturing specialized needles and medical components.
The project is also expected to create 500 new jobs, adding to Costa Rica’s growing base of skilled manufacturing employment.
The investment demonstrates the country’s ability to support specialized production in which precision, quality, and technical expertise are essential. Rather than competing primarily on low operating costs, Costa Rica is increasingly positioning itself around the ability to manufacture sophisticated products for global markets.
Cirtec Medical Doubles Its Costa Rican Operations
Cirtec Medical, a leading outsourced design, development, and manufacturing partner for medical-device companies, also significantly expanded its Costa Rican footprint.
The company effectively doubled its operations in Costa Rica, increasing its ability to serve growing demand in several highly specialized markets:
- Neuromodulation
- Interventional medicine.
- Electrophysiology
- Structural heart devices.
The expanded operation incorporates processes including neurostimulation-electrode manufacturing, extrusion, braiding, coil winding, final assembly, and packaging.
This is an important indicator of the evolution of Costa Rica’s manufacturing ecosystem. Operations are moving beyond conventional assembly toward increasingly complex processes that require engineering expertise and specialized production capabilities.
Freudenberg Medical Invests in Next-Generation Manufacturing
Freudenberg Medical is making an even larger commitment, investing US$25 million in a second production facility at Coyol Free Zone.
The facility will expand the company’s manufacturing capacity while incorporating artificial intelligence and virtual reality into manufacturing, employee training, and knowledge transfer.
Freudenberg Medical also plans to increase its direct workforce from approximately 350 employees to more than 900 over the next three years.
The new facility will specialize in high-volume assembly of minimally invasive catheters used in electrophysiology, vascular interventions, and structural heart therapies. The operation will also manufacture other medical devices requiring highly precise manual assembly.
For life sciences leaders in Costa Rica, investments such as this demonstrate that the country can support the integration of advanced digital technologies with sophisticated, labor-intensive manufacturing.
Strengthening the Supply-Chain Ecosystem
Not all strategic investments involve manufacturing floors. Thermo Fisher Scientific and ECI are strengthening the infrastructure and specialized services that enable Costa Rica’s life sciences cluster to grow.
Thermo Fisher Scientific opened a new distribution center designed to serve more than 70 companies in the country’s life sciences ecosystem. The facility will triple the company’s storage and distribution capacity, supporting the supply of raw materials, laboratory supplies, equipment, furniture, and other products.
ECI, meanwhile, launched a commercial testing laboratory focused on packaging testing, distribution simulation, and aging and stability studies. According to the source material, it is the first and only commercial laboratory of its type in Latin America.
The laboratory will serve multiple industries, including:
- Medical devices.
- Pharmaceuticals
- Electronics
- Food
- Transportation
- Logisitics
Together, these investments demonstrate that a successful life sciences cluster requires much more than manufacturers. It also depends on logistics providers, testing laboratories, suppliers, technical services, and other specialized businesses.
Coyol Free Zone’s Growing Global Footprint
The five investments form part of a much larger ecosystem. Coyol Free Zone currently hosts 34 world-class companies, seven of which are among the global top 30 medical-device companies.
The companies manufacture products ranging from heart valves and gastric tubes to dialysis catheters, surgical instruments, knee implants, and breast implants.
The park reports annual exports of approximately US$4.4 billion, representing a substantial share of Costa Rica’s medical-device exports.
Coyol Free Zone companies also generate 25,422 direct jobs, with 45% of employees coming from Alajuela Central and another 20% from Heredia.
These figures demonstrate the broader economic impact of attracting and retaining advanced manufacturing operations.
Why Reinvestment Matters
The latest expansions reinforce several competitive advantages that continue to attract life sciences leaders in Costa Rica:
- A specialized and increasingly experienced workforce.
- Advanced industrial infrastructure.
- A mature medical-device manufacturing cluster.
- Access to specialized suppliers and services.
- Experience with highly regulated manufacturing.
- A strategic free-zone environment.
- Growing adoption of digital manufacturing technologies.
Perhaps most importantly, companies already established in the country have demonstrated that Costa Rica can support them as their operations become more sophisticated.
As Monge emphasized, companies are not simply increasing production capacity. They are also “integrating more sophisticated processes, accelerating innovation, strengthening their supply chains and developing technical capabilities.”
That may be the most important takeaway from the five 2025 expansions.
Costa Rica’s competitive proposition is evolving from simply being an attractive location for foreign investment to becoming a long-term expansion platform for advanced manufacturing. The continued commitment of these companies suggests that life sciences leaders in Costa Rica see opportunities to deepen their operations, develop new capabilities, and serve increasingly complex global markets from the country.
For Costa Rica, continued reinvestment could prove just as important as attracting the next wave of multinational manufacturers.