Biotech company that expanded to S.D. from Germany grows with downtown Sioux Falls office, future lab

A German biotech company that knew the U.S. was an untapped market is thriving two years after choosing South Dakota for its base of operations.

“I can’t complain,” said Oliver Goernhardt, who moved to the U.S. with his family from Germany to help launch Cytion here.

“Business has been treating us well, and we’re way over projections. We’re going to hit 200 percent year-over-year growth, and that’s really all you can ask for.”

That’s not the only reason to celebrate. Next week, Cytion will cut the ribbon on a new administrative office in downtown Sioux Falls. The nine-person team has moved into The Steel District, adjacent to Falls Park and the Big Sioux River.

“In my opinion, it’s the best location in town,” Goernhardt said. “We work with big pharmaceutical companies and customers from the coasts and other big bioscience hubs, so we want to give the best impression of what’s possible not only in our company but in the Midwest.”

The message appears to be resonating.

“In our business, it’s all about face time, meeting people and making connections,” Goernhardt said. “That’s very important, and we’ve seen a great deal of success since expanding to South Dakota. We’ve been very well received because we’re more flexible, modern and faster than our competition.”

Cytion launched in 1998 as a spinoff from a German research center and specializes in high-quality, contamination-free cells from humans and animals, ensuring rigorous quality control and authentication. The company serves as a cell bank for researchers and biotech companies needing genetically authentic samples.

“It’s kind of an old industry at this point, and even though it seems counterintuitive because we support science, this part of the industry doesn’t really innovate well, and so administrative processes fall behind,” Goernhardt said.

“At the same time, AI in discovery is well underway, which is driving the need to move faster in supporting research. Projects get underway faster, a failure is accepted faster and can be rerouted, and we need to move faster.”

As a smaller and privately owned company, “we have the flexibility of optimizing our processing for the customer,” he added. “The need for our product is higher than it was before because everyone else is able to move faster.”

Product availability for U.S. customers is consistent and growing.

“When we moved, we offered about 1,000 cell lines, and now we’re running strong at 1,400,” Goernhardt said. “We’ve grown what I jokingly call our library, and we keep availability steadily around 95 percent.”

The next step for Cytion is laboratory space in South Dakota.

The company is looking at locations and hoping to finalize a lab space this year. While U.S. customers have been served by its German facilities so far, a U.S. lab “will allow us to make U.S.-made batches, which is important for customers who need to be able to say all product was sourced in the United States,” Goernhardt said.

“Plus, lab space will enable us to do much more as far as services around our core business like custom manufacturing, expansion projects and additional quality controls.”

Cytion will host a ribbon cutting at its downtown office on Nov. 10, including live music.

“Absolutely, South Dakota was the right choice,” Goernhardt said. “We’re an international business. Our product has the same price whether I sell it from Boston or from South Dakota, so keeping operating expenses lower is a way to improve margin, and South Dakota is a very good option for that.”

In considering real estate, “our same space in Boston would cost 10 times the amount,” he estimates. “We’ve been able to hire for administrative positions in customer services, accounting and logistic. When I hired my executive assistant, I had 117 applicants, which was impressive.”

Cytion also quickly connected with the broader biotech community, joining South Dakota Biotech — the state affiliate of the international BIO organization — and becoming a fast supporter.

“From day one, we were excited to support Oliver and his team as they pursued their U.S. expansion and are encouraged to see how well the market is treating Cytion,” said Joni Ekstrum, executive director of South Dakota Biotech.

“The fact that they continue to look to South Dakota opportunities as they scale is a great endorsement for growing a multifaceted biotech operation in our state.”

From Goernhardt’s perspective, “we’re trying to support South Dakota Biotech as much as they do for us,” he said.

“They made all the initial connections, and our startup in Sioux Falls was a lot smoother because of South Dakota Biotech, for sure. Joni gave me the lay of the land and really helped speed everything up for us, and she continues to make connections for us as we pursue our lab expansion.”

Personally, “my family is very, very happy here,” he added. “They love it, and that’s a big part of why I’ve been staying with this project so long. We’re looking to stay in Sioux Falls long term. We’re just about to file for our next visa status, and we’re hoping to go for the application for citizenship after that.”

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