BALLYMENA-based CIGA Healthcare has secured a $500,000-a-year export contract to supply a Uruguayan pharmaceutical company with a range of home diagnostic devices.
The first orders of over $100,000 have already been shipped to the new client, which controls a distribution network across Central and South America.
Family-owned CIGA, headed by Irwin Armstrong, makes and packages a range which includes ovulation, menopause and pregnancy tests as well as blood pressure and diabetes monitors and other personal health diagnostic kits under the SURESIGN brand, and says the initial contract opens the door to further business in Latin America.
“We're delighted to have secured this initial contract to supply Uruguay with kits which they will brand themselves,” says Mr Armstrong.
“The SURESIGN brand has been well established in the UK, Ireland and Europe for many years and our reputation for accuracy will have been key to winning this work,” he says.
The distribution deal with its Uruguayan partner means CIGA Healthcare can now target other Central and Latin American countries including Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Paraguay, Bolivia, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
CIGA, established in 2005, employs 28 staff in Ballymena and currently exports to more than 60 countries.
