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Costa Rica on the Global Innovation Map with New Medical Device Technology
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Costa Rica on the Global Innovation Map with New Medical Device Technology

• The team at Establishment Labs, a Costa Rican company located in Alajuela, works on research and development for launching new products with the Tico seal.

• Scientists research minimally invasive and breast reconstruction surgery in modern Randamp;D laboratory.

• Establishment Labs, which generates more than 500 direct jobs and exports to 70 European, Asian and American countries, was visited Thursday by top government officials.

Establishment Labs closed 2018 with 122.4% higher earnings than last year.

Alajuela, Costa Rica. Thursday, December 20, 2018. Day in, day out, a team of Costa Ricans are working to put Costa Rica once again on the global innovation map. This is happening at Establishment Labs, a company that works on research and development, design, manufacture and marketing of new products for minimally invasive and prophylactic breast reconstruction surgery.

At present, the professional team at this company – the first Costa Rican firm to be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market – consistsof 426 employees in Costa Rica and 86 around the world.

The 35 professionals in the Randamp;D Unit are dedicated to creating concepts and developing products and services for women’s health and wellbeing. Working in the field of reconstructive plastic surgery, the team is researching cutting-edge polymers for implantable devices, 3D technologies, biosensor microchips and regenerative medicine devices.

This is part of what was explained Thursday morning to Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, who met with the Establishment Labs team in the company of Foreign Trade Minister Dyalá Jiménez, Private Sector Liaison Minister André Garnier, Costa Rican Export Promotion Agency (PROCOMER) General Manager Pedro Beirute, and Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) General Director Jorge Sequeira.

“We are pleased to see companies like Establishment Labs harnessing the country’s quality human talent and helping to consolidate Costa Rica as a center of innovation and world leadership in health sciences companies,” remarked President Alvarado.

In support of the President’s statements, Establishment Labs founder and CEO Juan José Chacón Quirós expressed his certainty that the country has the potential to develop as a center for medical innovation, an example of this being the Randamp;D team at Establishment Labs.

“These professionals are characterized by their ability to understand the industry’s unmet needs and create meaningful solutions for women’s health and wellbeing,” he said.

He emphasized that the company’s success is due to having “a team that can solve complex problems at a global level, a team that perseveres in the face of adversity and dreams with its feet on the ground. This team has a goal and works very hard to a reach it.”

Foreign Trade Minister Dyalá Jiménez noted that “Establishment Labs Holdings continues to amaze us… A few months ago, we celebrated the news that it had become the first Costa Rican firm to list on NASDAQ, and today we’re here to meet its Research and Development Unit. Once again, you’ve reaffirmed the excellent quality of work in Costa
Rica, and you remind us of the impressive human talent we have here. You are definitely challenging us to continue working to strengthen favorable competitive conditions and being better every day.”

CINDE Director General Jorge Sequeira congratulated the company on its breakthroughs. “Establishment Labs Holdings is an example of perseverance and conviction. It is part of an extremely important sector for this country: life sciences. At the October close, 29% of exported goods were medical devices."


A History of Growth

2018 was a turning point year for Establishment Labs Holdings: on July 19 it became the first Costa Rican company to list on the NASDAQ Stock Market in New York.

It closed its third quarter with 122.4% more earnings than for the same period in 2017, equivalent to more than US $16 million. With this, Establishment Labs has been able to shift its efforts towards another goal: fostering innovative practices for minimally
invasive and prophylactic breast reconstruction surgery.

Fourteen years after its creation, the company now seeks in 2019 to increase its global market share by continuing to develop new technologies, training surgeons on the safety of its implantable devices and promoting the Motiva brand digitally among patients in different countries.

At present, Establishment Labs has patients in more than 70 countries and more than 500 employees distributed among its Costa Rican operations and 8 international offices in the United States, Brazil, Sweden, Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Belgium.


About Establishment Labs

Establishment Labs (NASDAQ: ESTA) is a global medical technology company focused on improving patient safety and aesthetic results, initially in the aesthetics and breast reconstruction market, designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing an innovative portfolio of silica gel breast implants called Motiva Implants®, the centerpiece of the MotivaImagine® platform. In March 2018, Establishment Labs was approved for an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the FDA to initiate clinical studies on Motiva Implants® in the United States. In addition to Motiva Implants®, Establishment Labs’ portfolio of products and technologies includes Divina® 3D Simulation System, Puregraft and MotivaImage® Centers. Additional information about the company can be found at: http://establishmentlabs.com/


For more Press Information

• Andrea Centeno - Country Image and Communication Manager, CINDE / acenteno@cinde.org/ 22012873
• Leonardo Ramírez, CINDE - Communications andamp; Country Brand Executive, CINDE / lramirez@cinde.org / 2201-2829
• Ana Jiménez - Press Office Ministry of Foreign Trade -COMEX / Ana.jimenez@comex.go.cr / 25054026