Indiana biosciences institute getting more than $100M

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana’s fledgling applied biosciences research institute is getting two grants totaling more than $100 million to help spur its collaborations between industry and academia.

The Lilly Endowment is making an $80 million grant to the nonprofit Indiana Biosciences Research Institute and the Eli Lilly and Co. Foundation is adding $20 million, officials announced Wednesday. The grants will support the institute’s charitable, educational and scientific activities, with a focus on heart disease, diabetes and nutrition.

With the grants, the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute has now reached almost half of its three-year fundraising goal of about $350 million from philanthropists, government grants and industry contributions in order to sustain its development plan and research goals. The institute, which formed in 2013, already had $50 million on hand from a state grant and private donations.

“This is a monumental achievement for the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute and for the global life sciences research community,” David Broecker, president and CEO of the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, said in a news release.

Gov. Mike Pence said the grants will help the institute “attract world-class scientific talent, and produce research that will serve to further support its success in Indiana in the years to come.”

The grant announcement comes as the institute prepares to break ground on its new 75,000-square-foot site near downtown Indianapolis that will anchor a 50-acre technology park.

Eli Lilly and Co. Senior Vice President Darren Carroll told The Indianapolis Star the $100 million in funding is enough to start a sustainable research institute.

If the institute can raise an additional $15 million from other industry sources, it will be matched by the endowment, and the institute will wind up with $115 million in grants.