NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – A group of life sciences companies operating in Indiana and local universities plan to use $50 million to launch a new institute that will pursue genetics and genomics-based research as well as a wide range of other projects addressing human diseases, the regional industry catalyst BioCrossroads said today.
The Indiana BioSciences Research Institute, a state-wide public-private partnership, will receive $25 million in start-up funding from the state, while industry and philanthropies are being asked to contribute another $25 million to fund its launch.
The private sector collaborators behind the institute include Roche Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company, BioCrossroads, Indiana University Health, and Dow Agrosciences, among others. They will partner with researchers at Indiana University, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame.
BioCrossroads said that the plan is for the non-profit institute to raise an estimated $360 million, to be secured through a mix of capital funding from philanthropies, endowment proceeds, and industry and federally-funded research.
Not only will industry provide "a major source of funding" for the institute, BioCrossroads said, but it will define the research focus to "optimize commercialization opportunities," BioCrossroads said.
The institute also will seek to attract scientific leaders, including a CEO and researchers called "Indiana Fellows," who will head research teams, partner with industry and universities on projects, and work onsite at industry and university labs.
Initially, the institute's research projects will focus on health issues that are of global and regional interest, such as cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disorders like diabetes and obesity, and nutrition.
“The institute will strengthen Indiana’s reputation as a global life sciences hub and produce breakthroughs that will attract new investment to our state and create good-paying jobs for Hoosiers," Indiana Governor Mike Pence said today.
“We have an opportunity to not only help millions of people around the world who are battling these metabolic disorders, but we can have significant impact on Hoosiers who suffer more than the average American from diabetes and who rank 8th in the nation in terms of obesity,” Roche Diagnostics President and CEO Jack Phillips said in a statement.