Zeus expands catheter manufacturing to Costa Rica

Zeus, an Orangeburg-based leader in advanced polymer solutions and a provider of contract manufacturing for catheter sub-assemblies, is expanding its production capabilities to a site in Costa Rica.

The company says its CathX Medical business has signed a lease for a new catheter manufacturing facility in the La Lima Free Zone in Cartago, Costa Rica. The investment expands CathX Medical’s manufacturing capacity to support customer programs as they grow, while continuing development and early production at its existing U.S. operations, according to a news release.

“This investment reflects how we think about supporting our customers over the long term,” Zeus CEO Paddy O’Brien said in the release. “As their programs move from development to commercial scale, they need a partner with the capacity and consistency to grow alongside them. Costa Rica strengthens our ability to do that, extending the same quality system and manufacturing discipline our customers rely on today into the volumes they will need tomorrow.”

The Costa Rica facility complements CathX Medical’s sites in San Jose, Calif., and Arden Hills, Minn., and advances the company’s three-site model: new products are developed and built in low volumes in the U.S., and Costa Rica supports commercial-scale manufacturing as those programs mature, all under the same quality management system, equipment and tooling, the announcement said. The site will initially focus on catheter sub-assembly operations.

“Everyone in this business knows where programs stall, and it’s almost never the science; it’s the handoff from development into full-scale production,” said Matt Bradbury, vice president, Catheter Solutions, CathX Medical. “That’s the gap we designed the CathX model to close, and Costa Rica is the piece that completes it, giving a program one continuous path from prototype to commercial volume under a single team and quality system. For our customers, that can be the difference between a device that makes it to market and one that stalls on the way.”

Costa Rica is a globally recognized hub for medical device manufacturing, with a highly skilled workforce, strong infrastructure, and a well-established free trade zone system, according to Zeus. The La Lima location positions CathX Medical alongside many of its customers, supporting faster scale-up and greater supply chain resilience. CathX Medical leases the facility with long-term renewal rights and the option to expand within the park as the business grows.

The facility is now in its build-out and hiring phase, with operational readiness expected in the second quarter of 2027 following equipment installation, validation and workforce onboarding. CathX Medical expects to hire 100 team members in Costa Rica over the next 12 to 18 months, including positions in engineering, technical and manufacturing operations. The company is particularly seeking candidates with knowledge and experience in extrusion, braiding and complex catheter assembly processes.
“Our customers are looking for manufacturing partners they can count on as their programs scale globally,” Jim O’Connell, Chief Commercial Officer at Zeus, said in the release. “This investment gives them added capacity and greater supply chain resilience, along with the confidence that Zeus can support their programs wherever they are headed.”

The new site adds capacity and does not change CathX Medical’s approach to development or its existing customer relationships, the company says. Costa Rica adds capacity to support customers as their programs grow. The facility will meet all applicable regulatory and quality requirements, including ISO 13485 certification and FDA registration, prior to production.

In December 2023, Zeus announced that it was bring purchased by The EQT X fund, based in Stockholm, Sweden.