Cape Girardeau company expands to Springfield

A Cape Girardeau-based producer of medical-grade biologics is in expansion mode, and Springfield is one of its target growth areas.

A news release issued Oct. 16 by the Missouri Department of Economic Development indicates that Cardinal Biologicals Inc. intends to invest over $2.7 million and create six jobs at three locations in Cape Girardeau, Springfield and Joplin. Cardinal Biologicals is utilizing the Missouri Works program, which awards withholdings or tax credits in exchange for job creation.

Cardinal Biologicals President and CEO Paul Pfeiffer said in an interview with Springfield Business Journal yesterday that the company opened its Springfield office in May in the PJC Insurance Agency LLC building at 1801 W. Norton Road. The office currently has three full-time employees, he said, noting the FTE count should grow to 4.5 by year's end.

"Springfield made perfect sense for us based on our hospital partnerships," Pfeiffer said, pointing to a contract with Mercy Springfield Communities. "We hope to at some point add an additional hospital partner in Springfield. If that happens, that will certainly facilitate additional growth."

Pfeiffer estimated Cardinal Biologicals' annual investment in Springfield at roughly $400,000, which covers payroll, equipment, supplies and charitable donations.

"It's a nice little investment," he said. "We only hope to grow that in the coming months and years."

Pfeiffer said Cardinal Biologicals operates in "the birth tissue procurement side of the biotechnology industry." Patients at participating hospitals can choose to donate birth tissue after a successful delivery, and Cardinal Biologicals is able to produce amniotic membrane patches to help heal issues such as diabetic foot ulcers, he said.

"The good that it does downstream is fantastic," Pfeiffer said. "It doesn't cost the patient or the hospital anything to donate the tissue. We look at it as something that before was being disposed of."

In Springfield, more than 50% of participating patients to date have chosen to donate their birth tissue when presented with the option, Pfeiffer said.

In the state's news release, Gov. Mike Kehoe pointed, in part, to Missouri's "strength in life sciences."

“We’re proud to see a Missouri-made innovator like Cardinal Biologicals expanding to multiple regions of our state,” Kehoe said in the release. "This company is an excellent example of our economic advantages, including Missouri’s strength in life sciences, that enable cutting-edge employers to thrive."