Costa Rica: Tourism, jungles and medical devices? September 16, 2010

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St. Jude Medical will open a production facility in the Alajuela, Costa Rica, to make heart valves. The facility will be located within El Coyol, a state-of-the-art, free trade zone catering specifically to life sciences and other technology companies. The company plans to invest an estimated $670 million in Costa Rica and hire up to 2,000 employees in the next five years.

The medical device industry first discovered Costa Rica in 1987, when Baxter set up a manufacturing facility. Today, medical devices accounts for almost 10,000 employees from the likes of Hospira, Boston Scientific, Koros, St. Jude Medical, Hologic, Arthrocare, and Allergan. In addition, the country has a variety of medical product suppliers, contract manufacturers and sterilization providers.

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CEO Bill Weldon taps veteran executive to lead QA recovery at J&J August 19, 2010

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Following a number of product recalls, the closure on one manufacturing plant, Congressional inquiries, FDA inspections, and a hit to the company’s stock and reputation with consumers, Johnson & Johnson is making changes to its Quality organization. Like many companies that have struggled through supply chain issues, J&J is breaking out its QA organization, creating a single framework to manage its drug, medical device and consumer health care divisions.

Ajit Shetty, the corporate vice president responsible for supply chain operations, will lead this initiative, reporting directly to CEO Bill Weldon. So who is J&J’s new Quality guru?