SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – The tiny Latin American country that has become the region's second largest med-tech exporter behind Mexico is betting on disruptive technologies and trends to stay at the technological forefront. Costa Rica's med-tech exports have become one of the nation's most important sources of income and employment, and the country is focused on expanding the sector.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Looking to dig deeper into its rest-of-the-world market operations, Canadian firm Knight Therapeutics Inc. acquired Latin America's largest biotech company, Biotoscana Investments SA.

BOGOTA, Colombia – During the past few years, the Dominican Republic has become one of the leading medical device suppliers to the U.S. It has positioned itself as the Latin American country with the highest export value of medical and surgical instruments worldwide. This year, it aims to expand its med-tech exports at a 7% rate.

BOGOTA, Colombia – A Costa Rican designer developed a system to create tailor-made molds to treat patients diagnosed with microtia, a congenital deformity, in which the external ear is not fully developed. "This is a very basic concept, and it really amazes me that it has not been implemented before," Andrés Quiros, the product designer behind the invention, told BioWorld MedTech.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Last month, Anvisa, Brazil's health surveillance agency, approved a proposal that makes it mandatory for the agency to monitor the prices of medical implants, a category that, in Brazil, includes orthoses, prostheses and special materials. Is this the beginning of a price capping era for medical devices in the Latin American giant?

BOGOTA, Colombia – Mylan NV's Ogivri (trastuzumab) has become the first registered biosimilar in Colombia, to be marketed by Strenuus Marketing, a Bogota-based drug distributor.

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Latin America is rife with opportunities to undertake clinical trials, but regulatory adjustments are needed for companies to fully take advantage of them. As the largest market in the region, Brazil, for one, is in dire need of those adjustments, said experts gathered in Sao Paolo last week for the annual BIO Latin America conference.

SAO PAULO, Brazil – A lack of guidelines for interchangeability of biologics in Latin America emerged as a key focus of discussion at the BIO Latin America conference this week.

SAO PAULO, Brazil – The Latin America market has great potential to contribute to the global biotech sector, but it will have to overcome some big challenges that remain unaddressed, not least of which is how to bridge the gap between science and business.