Covidien (NYSE:COV) announced plans for a flagship research & development center in Shanghai.
The 100,000-square-foot facility, which should be fully operational by July 2012, will house two of the Mansfield, Mass.-based health product maker’s emerging market units: Tailored products and breakthrough platforms.
"The establishment of this R&D facility is a first for Covidien in China," said Dong Wu, vice president R&D for China, in prepared remarks. "We will be undertaking a range of cutting-edge activities that will create innovative products to help physicians improve the health of the people of China and of other markets worldwide."
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"This R&D Center is the latest in a series of China-focused initiatives that clearly demonstrates our commitment to this very important market for Covidien. We look forward to a very successful future here," added Covidien’s China GM, vice president Alex Gu.
The 25-member R&D staff Covidien currently employs in Shanghai will increase to more than 300 once the new facility is fully operational.
Covidien, which ranked 8th on the MassDevice Big 100 list of the world’s largest medical device companies, announced this news after a particularly strong third quarter. The company reported profits of $535 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, on sales of $2.93 billion for the three months ended June 24.
