True to its promises, Covidien (NYSE:COV) is making big strides in emerging markets, today announcing the opening of its 1st Center of Innovation in India.
The new training and education facility will focus on vascular disease, metabolic disorders and and cancer, according to a company statement. Covidien hopes to reach 5,000 healthcare workers each year through the new center.
The India center is Covidien’s 3rd in emerging markets, joining centers in China and South Korea. The medtech giant plans this year to open new centers in Turkey and Brazil as well, according to a company statement.
"Expanding our training and education capabilities worldwide is a key component of Covidien’s global growth strategy and this new center in Mumbai will play an integral role as we continue to focus on important emerging geographies," Covidien’s emerging markets president Brian King said in prepared remarks.
The new site includes a surgical lab with 7 operating stations, a human patient simulator, a library and an auditorium with room for 60 people.
Covidien already has a presence in India, with more than 400 employees there and a "a strong network of distributors and partner hospitals across the country," the company said.
Company leadership has said recently that emerging markets will play a bigger role in the company’s growth moving forward. CEO José Almeida said during a recent presentation that Covidien is willing to pull resources from its businesses in the U.S. and Europe to bolster its footprint in Brazil and China.
In Brazil, Covidien acquired electrosurgical generator maker WEM Equipamentos Eletrônicos, based in Ribeirao Preto. In China, the Mansfield, Mass.-based medtech firm launched a joint venture with the Changzhou Kangdi Medical Stapler Co., which makes open stapler products.
Almeida told the audience at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco this month that Covidien is "just scratching the surface in emerging markets."
"We will move money from businesses to businesses where the opportunity is," he said. "We took money from our businesses in the U.S. and Europe to finance [the acquisitions]. … These are 2 small examples of how we’re going to continue to focus on emerging markets."
