MANSFIELD, Mass.--()--Covidien (NYSE:COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced the opening of four research and development (R&D) centers. The R&D facilities are located in: Boulder, Colorado; Hyderabad, India; Irvine, California; and Trevoux, France.
"Our investments in these new R&D centers represent a strong commitment to delivering healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes,” said José E. Almeida, President and Chief Executive Officer. “To remain a market leader, we must broaden our innovation focus and create a competitive edge by continuing to expand our business globally.
“We expect to launch more than 50 new products over the next two years. Innovation is at the core of everything Covidien does and we devote significant resources to research and development. We are creating new products and business models that will help healthcare providers worldwide improve patient care and extend healthcare delivery to more people and more places,” said Almeida.
Covidien has invested more than $40 million into the four R&D centers that will house scientists, clinicians, engineers and product development specialists. These new facilities, which add 50 research laboratories, will significantly increase the Company’s overall R&D footprint.
Covidien now has 24 R&D centers throughout the world, focusing on new growth platforms in its endomechanical and energy devices, soft tissue repair, vascular therapies, respiratory, monitoring, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies product lines.
“In the last five years, the Company has more than doubled its R&D investments and introduced more than 100 new products,” said Paul Hermes, Chief Technology Officer, Surgical Solutions, Covidien. “By expanding our R&D infrastructure and capabilities, we will be able to enhance our collaborative efforts, improve the product development time to market and create valued innovation. This will allow us to accelerate our new product launches and bring clinically relevant and economically valuable innovation to the global marketplace.”
About Covidien
Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that creates innovative medical solutions for better patient outcomes and delivers value through clinical leadership and excellence. Covidien manufactures, distributes and services a diverse range of industry-leading product lines in three segments: Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies. With 2011 revenue of $11.6 billion, Covidien has 41,000 employees worldwide in more than 65 countries, and its products are sold in over 140 countries. Please visit www.covidien.com to learn more about our business.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements contained in this communication that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on our management's current beliefs and expectations, but are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances, which may cause actual results or Company actions to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by these statements. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, our ability to effectively introduce and market new products or keep pace with advances in technology, the reimbursement practices of a small number of large public and private insurers, cost-containment efforts of customers, purchasing groups, third-party payors and governmental organizations, intellectual property rights disputes, complex and costly regulation, including healthcare fraud and abuse regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, manufacturing or supply chain problems or disruptions, rising commodity costs, recalls or safety alerts and negative publicity relating to Covidien or its products, product liability losses and other litigation liability, divestitures of some of our businesses or product lines, our ability to execute strategic acquisitions of, investments in or alliances with other companies and businesses, competition, risks associated with doing business outside of the United States, foreign currency exchange rates and environmental remediation costs. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, and in subsequent filings with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements other than as required by law.