Research firm plans to expand, add 70 jobs

A Covington-based research company that helped test a Covid-19 vaccine is expanding its services and adding jobs.

CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services (CTI) is creating a laboratory services business unit, the first step in what it is calling a global expansion. The expansion is expected to create 70 jobs, the company says.

CTI is a contract research organization that manages clinical trials and does other work to help bring new drugs to the market. CTI says it is currently part of 40 active COVID-19 projects for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disease. The company worked on the Johnson and Johnson/Janssen Covid-19 vaccine, which is now being distributed to vaccine sites around the country.

CTI’s new laboratory business services unit will provide molecular, cellular, and bioanalytical testing, specimen kit building services and a repository to collect and store biospecimens for research.

The expansion will occupy 37,000 square feet of the Baldwin 500 Building in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Walnut Hills.

"As we continue to expand our footprint in the tri-state, on both sides of the river, we hope to become a model for other companies,” says Tim Schroeder, Chairman & CEO of CTI.

CTI's growth is part of an overall expansion in the region of the biohealth sector, which has seen a 6.2% growth in jobs from 2015 to 2020, says  economic development organization REDI Cincinnati.

“The Cincinnati region is setting itself apart as a leader in the biohealth industry thanks to the investment from CTI and the more than 800 biohealth companies that call the region home,” says Kimm Lauterbach, REDI Cincinnati's president and CEO.