BID Invest granted Calox de Costa Rica S.A. a loan that will help the company invest in substantial improvements in its production capacity and seek international certifications to validate the quality of its products.
The project has two main objectives. The first is to acquire the existing plant to make improvements in infrastructure and energy efficiency in order to become certified and expand its production capacity in the medium term.
The business sector in Nicaragua reported that private hospitals asked to be authorized to perform the tests that can determine if a person is a virus carrier, but so far they have not received a response.
Representatives of the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (COSEP) explained that the Ministry of Health (Minsa) tests are done manually and private laboratories perform them automatically.
Bayer announced that it plans to expand the operation of its medical device plant and shared service center in Costa Rica in the coming years.
The increase in its presence in Costa Rica is part of the plan to adjust the operation in Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean countries, which the company will implement over the next two years.
Reprico, Labymed, J.J. Cohen, Novartis and Nipro Medical Corporation are some of the firms supplying medicines to public health institutions in the region.
Figures from the information system, "Public Purchases in the Health Sector" developed by the Trade Intelligence area of CentralAmericaData, details the list of companies favored with contracts to provide pharmaceutical products and medical supplies in tenders published between July 2017 and June 2018, by the several Ministries of Health and Social Security of Central American countries.
With the $8 million investment in the renovation and expansion of its plant in Soyapango, Laboratorios Lopez aims to enter the Colombian and Mexican markets.
After Laboratorios Lopez was acquired by the Colombian company Grupo Procaps four years ago, the company began expanding the production plant located at kilometer 5.5, Bulevard del Ejército Nacional, Soyapango, in the country's capital.
In El Salvador, companies in the pharmaceutical industry plan to achieve 5% growth in exports of their products this year.
A rebound in sales to Honduras and the opening of new markets is what is behind the projection of growth that the Association of Chemical-Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of El Salvador (INQUIFAR) has for this year.
The market for medicines in Colombia up to 2017 totalled $3.419 billion, of which 83% corresponded to sales of prescribed medicines, and the remaining 17% to OTC medicines.
A report by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica details the characteristics of the pharmaceutical products market in Colombia, and highlights the opportunities available for companies in Central America that sell raw materials and supplies for manufacturing medicines.
From January to November 2017, countries in the region imported $264 million worth of pharmaceutical products from Mexico, and 50% was acquired by companies in Panama.
Figures from the information system "Trade between Central America and Mexico", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData : [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]
With a $5 million investment in the remodeling and expansion of its plant in El Salvador, Laboratorios Suizos intends to increase its sales abroad.
The pharmaceutical company, which exports approximately 35% of its production to Central America and the Caribbean, forecasts that with the expansion of the plant it will be able to sell 75% of what it produces abroad. The remodeling and expansion works include an area for research and development.
Slowness in the procedures for obtaining sanitary permits and technological deficiencies in laboratories are two of the elements that are reducing competitiveness of Dominican pharmaceutical companies.
Entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry in the Dominican Republic are aware that there are several aspects that could be improved in order to achieve growth in the global pharmaceutical market.Lack of coordination and dialogue with the public sector is another point that the union of companies in the sector believes should improve.
A study by Procomer analyzes the market for the manufacture of medical devices in the North American country, made up of 5,348 companies, of which 91% are small businesses.
From the executive summary of the Procomer study "Medical Device Industry in Canada":
The Canadian medical device industry, was valued at $ USD3.107 million in 2015, it is characterized by being integrated to all the links of the value chain, from applied research to the manufacture of the final product, favored by factors such as availability of human talent, the facility for carrying out clinical studies and a collaborative environment between industry, government and research centers.
Edwards Lifesciences has announced that as part of the expansion plan for its operations in Costa Rica, it will start construction of a new heart valve manufacturing plant in Cartago.
The company dedicated to the manufacture of heart valves started construction of the new plant next to the current one, located in the Zona Franca La Lima, in Cartago. Heart valve devices will be manufactured in the new facilities, "...
In Guatemala, SMEs are being invited to take part in the next Central American Manufexport fair, to be held in Antigua, in September 2018.
A call is being made to SMEs from the sectors of food and beverages, hygiene and personal care, cleaning for the home, plastic products, cosmetics, and other manufactured goods to participate in a business conference which will take place on the 26th and 27th of September 2018 in Antigua, Guatemala.
The presence of new distributors, more pharmacy chains and growth in the imports of medicines and medical supplies reflect the sector's dynamism.
Recent mergers and acquisitions in the pharmacy market are just a sample of the dynamism achieved by the pharmaceutical business in the country. Growth is being seen not only in the number of points of sale of businesses dedicated to selling medicines and other supplies, but also in growth in imports and in the number of companies dedicated to the manufacture of medicines for human use and medical equipment, among other products.
Products, services, and medical, pharmaceutical and hospital technology equipment will be exhibited from October 19th to 20th at the Atlapa Convention Center.
The EXPO MEDICA PANAMÁ 2017 event will bring together companies from the pharmaceutical, medical, health and sports industries.
Participating companies will explore business opportunities and showcase beauty, sports, and gym products, among other things.