International biotech company chooses Sioux Falls for U.S. expansion

A German biotech company has expanded to the U.S. with a location in Sioux Falls, thanks to a friendship that spans across the ocean.

Cytion is what’s known as a cell bank. The company, launched in 1998 as a spinoff from a German research center, specializes in high-quality, contamination-free cells from humans and animals, ensuring rigorous quality control and authentication.

Its cell lines have been the go-to choice for researchers and biotech companies needing genetically authentic samples.

But while the company grew in Europe, the U.S. remained a largely untapped market.

Oliver Goernhardt set up to begin capturing that potential in 2022 when he launched a U.S. company under the same name.

“I was head of sales as part of the C-suite in Germany at the time, and while the U.S. market represents about 52 percent of the global market, we had few sales from U.S. clients because of the difficulty in buying from abroad, especially if there’s a supplier domestically,” he explained.

“It wasn’t hard to see the opportunity. The biggest market in the world represented a tiny percent of our revenue.”

In the U.S., customers “like to talk to someone locally,” he added. “There’s a lot of America-first sourcing, and we weren’t able to provide product overnight. We’d have to schedule trans-Atlantic shipments that sometimes got stuck in customs, so it was limiting our ability to grow.”

That’s about to change, he said.

And it starts with his longtime friend, Matt Bailey, a Sioux Falls resident. The two became friends more than a decade ago when they met playing a game online.

“When you think about biotech in the U.S., you think Boston, San Diego, maybe North Carolina or New Jersey,” Goernhardt said. “But I’ve known Matt a long time, and he kept advertising Sioux Falls and South Dakota pretty hard, and he made a great point. There are a lot of advantages, especially the business environment, and the state is making a big push to make this area more interesting for biotech.”

Adding Cytion to South Dakota is significant, said Joni Ekstrum, executive director of South Dakota Biotech, the state affiliate of the international BIO organization.

“We’re thrilled that Cytion has chosen Sioux Falls as the site of its U.S. expansion,” she said.

“The services offered here are key to advancing science worldwide, and the growth that Cytion anticipates is exciting to contemplate as we look forward to them becoming a bigger presence in our biotech community. We’re so excited to welcome Oliver and his family across the Atlantic and support him as he grows his team here.”

As Goernhardt considered a personal move, “this is a great place to live,” he said. “I’ll be moving my family, so I need a place to raise my kid. I have a 3-year-old daughter I’d rather not have grow up in a bigger city. I just see her growing up more in an environment like this.”

Since late last year, Cytion has been operating out of an office in south Sioux Falls led by Bailey, who is serving as chief operating officer.

“I have a background in business and have had a few businesses in town, but this is my first foray into life sciences, which is incredibly fascinating,” Bailey said.

“We’re not typically what you think of when you think of biotech, so it’s cool to be a pioneer and on the forefront of helping bring that here. There’s satisfaction knowing our product went into research that helped solve a problem.”

Cytion is able to store some of its cell lines locally already, allowing for much faster delivery to clients. The company’s diverse product range includes specialized cell lines from human and animals, versatile stem cells, high-purity DNA and essential growth and freeze media. It also provides customized cell culture services.

“We deal with academia, research institutions and universities, pharma and biotech,” Goernhardt said. “Everything that has ‘therapeutics’ in the name is probably a client at some point. We’ve worked with all the big players in the industry. Our products can be used in everything from proof of concept to drug development and manufacturing of antibodies, just a wide variety of applications.”

There’s already a four-person U.S. team with plans to add a fifth focused on marketing and branding. Goernhardt plans to move here with his family this month.

“And we have plans to establish an actual lab in Sioux Falls and start manufacturing product on the spot,” he said. “That’s probably something we’ll get into in 2025.”

The immediacy of access is key to the company’s growth, he said.

“In our business, it’s not unusual to wait for your product three or four months, and now we have 96 percent of our inventory almost immediately available, which is important to serving our customers,” Goernhardt said. “We go as quick as possible because every day we hold back a research project is a day society has to wait for a potential cure.”

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