US custom medical device manufacturer Helix Medical (Carpinteria, California; www.helixmedical.com) continues to expand its footprint in Europe, more than two years after the company established its first foothold on the continent when it opened a plant in Kaiserslautern / Germany – see Plasteurope.com of 24.02.2010. In mid-August the California-based medical manufacturer made a strategic investment in Irish hypotubes and micro-component catheter specialist Cambus Medical (Spiddal; www.cambusmedical.com). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Helix Medical did say, however, that it will provide expansion financing throughout 2012 and by January next year will acquire a 50% stake in Cambus.

At its plant in Spiddal, near Galway, Cambus Medical designs, develops and produces high-quality precision medical components by means of injection moulding, EDM and ECM machining, laser precision cutting, laser welding and marking as well as assembly and packaging. The business will complement the catheter business of Helix Medical’s European joint venture VistaMed (Carrick-on-Shannon / Ireland; www.vistamed.net), a manufacturer of specialty catheter systems and extruded medical tubing.

Once complete, the partnership will expand Helix Medical’s portfolio to include the full range of components, design and manufacturing services for minimally invasive surgery devices. Aside from these two Irish joint ventures, the Carpinteria-based company also operates plants in Massachusetts / USA, Costa Rica, Germany and China.