Gov. Matt Bevin has announced CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services, a global, privately held company providing therapeutic expertise to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, will relocate its headquarters to Covington with a $36.4 million investment projected to create up to 500 Kentucky-resident jobs.

CTI plans to move its headquarters from the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash, Ohio, closer to the region’s urban center. It will lease about 125,000 square feet in the RiverCenter building. The relocation will help the company consolidate its locations and facilitate future growth.

“We’re thrilled for CTI to be starting a new chapter at RiverCenter,” said Timothy Schroeder, CEO of CTI. “We feel that this location will be a state-of-the-art headquarters for our staff, enabling collaboration and innovation. This site allows us to retain and grow the most talented team in the industry who are helping to develop some of the most innovative life-changing therapies.”

Founded in 1999 by Schroeder and Lynn Fallon, CTI is a global leader in clinical research, working with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to plan, manage and analyze clinical trials, a critical step in bringing new drugs, therapies and medical devices to market. The company is therapeutically focused on critically ill patient populations, chronic diseases and unmet medical needs including the areas of regenerative medicine, cell and gene therapy, rare disease, immunology, transplantation and oncology. 

CTI has associates in more than 25 countries and has worked on over 2,700 projects across six continents. CTI has contributed to more than 100 new drug and device approvals by regulatory agencies around the world. 

Sen. Christian McDaniel, of Taylor Mill, said the company’s relocation and employment growth will serve Northern Kentucky well in the coming years. 

Rep. Addia Wuchner, of Florence, chairwoman of the Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus, said CTI’s move will advance the area’s biomedical industry. 

Northern Kentucky University plans on partnering to offer training initiatives for future CTI employees. 

During a special meeting, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved CTI for tax incentives up to $14 million based on its investment of $36.4 million and hiring up to 500 Kentucky residents. The jobs would be added over the agreement’s 10-year span at an average of $40 per hour including benefits. 

The incentive agreement is through the Kentucky Business Investment (KBI) program, a performance-based incentive. Through KBI, a company can keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets. 

Additionally, CTI can receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives. Last year, the Kentucky Skills Network trained more than 84,000 employees from more than 5,600 Kentucky companies.

CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services is a global, privately held, full-service CRO delivering a complete spectrum of clinical trial and consulting services throughout the lifecycle of development, from concept to commercialization. CTI’s focused therapeutic approach provides pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device firms with clinical and disease area expertise in rare diseases, regenerative medicine/gene therapy, immunology, transplantation, nephrology, hematology/oncology, neurology, infectious diseases, hepatology, cardiopulmonary and pediatric populations. CTI also offers a fully integrated multi-specialty clinical research site that conducts phase I-IV trials.