WYRZ.org 98.9 WYRZ – The Voice of Hendricks County
Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence today joined the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI), an independent, nonprofit applied biosciences research institute, to announce two new grants totaling $100 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. and the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. The grants will support IBRI’s charitable, educational and scientific activities addressing metabolic disease and poor nutrition. With these grants, IBRI now has achieved almost half of its three-year fundraising target of approximately $350 million from philanthropic sources, government grants and industry contributions to sustain its development plan and research goals.
“Nearly three years after the launch of the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, this initiative is taking another step forward in a field that’s seeing tremendous growth,” said Governor Mike Pence. “This monumental grant announcement will give the Institute more opportunity to attract world-class scientific talent, and produce research that will serve to further support its success in Indiana in the years to come.”
Governor Pence and life sciences leaders unveiled the IBRI in May 2013 as the first industry-led collaborative life sciences research institute in the country. It is a statewide public-private partnership led by Indiana’s life sciences industry, with support from the state of Indiana and partnerships with Indiana’s research universities to discover, develop, and deliver biosciences innovations in Indiana. The IBRI serves as the centerpiece project to attract world-class scientific leaders and life sciences research dollars to Indiana, while focusing on human health solutions that could improve the lives of Hoosiers and people around the world.
David Broecker, president and CEO of IBRI, commented: “This is a monumental achievement for the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute and for the global life sciences research community. We are grateful for the support of Lilly Endowment and the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, as well as our other partners, and believe these contributions underscore the significance of our vision to build a world class research institute that will serve as a catalyst for accelerating research and innovation.”
A portion of Lilly Endowment’s $80 million grant is subject to matching conditions – $45 million of the grant is unconditional while the remaining $35 million is subject to dollar-for-dollar matching conditions to encourage contributions from life sciences businesses and their foundations. The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation contributed $20 million, which qualifies for the Endowment’s match, bringing total committed funding from these grants currently to $85 million. The $15 million balance of the Endowment’s grant remains to be matched. This grant is the Endowment’s second-largest grant ever.
“IBRI holds great promise to enhance Indiana’s position as a global leader in life sciences innovation with its novel model that will forge deep and synergistic collaborations among Indiana’s life sciences companies and research institutions,” said N. Clay Robbins, chairman, president and CEO of Lilly Endowment.
“The catalytic role IBRI will play as an anchor tenant in the emerging 16 Tech innovation community in Indianapolis is especially compelling. Indiana must continue to expand and enhance its intellectual capital and strengthen its economy, and we believe IBRI will further both of these imperatives while at the same time fostering research designed to improve health outcomes throughout the world,” added Robbins.
“We are excited to support the next chapter in IBRI’s evolution,” noted John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., Lilly chairman, president and CEO. “Our collective investments will strengthen Indiana’s growing life sciences sector and our local economy while helping to foster innovation, speed the discovery of new life science breakthroughs and attract top talent to our state.”
IBRI recently announced the appointment of internationally recognized diabetes and metabolic disease research scientist Raghu Mirmira, M.D., Ph.D., as the first Indiana Research Fellow and interim Scientific Director for the Institute. Mirmira will work with David Broecker to recruit research scientists, establish research operations and commence project work at its facility in Indianapolis.
The Institute is advancing plans to occupy approximately 75,000 square feet of open office and research space in the Indianapolis 16 Tech innovation community just north of the IUPUI campus. The 16 Tech innovation community is purpose-built to attract the best talent to collaborate, create and commercialize new ideas across a spectrum of advanced industries, including life sciences, technology, advanced manufacturing and the arts. The 60-acre innovation community stresses proximity of people and places to encourage collaboration and innovation, and will include flexible research space, ample public space, a mix of housing opportunities and retail and office space. As the anchor tenant, IBRI is stimulating the future development of the community for researchers, entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses. Construction is expected to begin in late 2016.
