Indy’s Life Sciences Industry is Regional Economic Boom

Indy Chamber News Archives

Pioneers. Innovators. Leaders. Whatever you want to call them, Indiana is home to some of the nation's top life sciences corporations and professionals. We are making our mark on the industry and growing by leaps and bounds.

Steve Jobs once said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” And there is certainly something about the Hoosier State that attracts life sciences innovators like Colonel Eli Lilly, founding a medical wholesaler in the 1870s that’s grown into a global life science leader. Indianapolis is home to the North American headquarters of global health care leader Roche Diagnostics, whose products are used worldwide to help manage the prevention and diagnosis of diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Today, Indiana boasts a $50 billion life sciences sector and a spot among the nation’s top five states in number and concentration of life sciences jobs. The Indianapolis region lands in the top 11 regions in the U.S. for life sciences employment.

The jobs, investment and growth that stem from our heritage of health and life sciences innovation give Indianapolis a competitive advantage for growing businesses in life sciences and we are aggressively seeking ways to increase our presence in this industry.

But what drives innovation on these fronts? More than just pharmaceuticals and laboratories, life sciences innovation can mean breakthroughs in areas like health care information technology, plant and animal sciences and hospital ecosystems which have and will continue to be a huge economic driver for the state and the Indianapolis region.

“Indiana’s life sciences industry is one of the state’s most valuable economic drivers, and a leader nationally as one of the top five states for number of life sciences companies and number of jobs,” said David L. Johnson, President and CEO of BioCrossroads. “The sector is both diverse and deep as Indiana is home to global headquarters for some of the world’s leading medical device, pharmaceutical, and food and agricultural companies.”

Industry leaders continue to look toward the future of innovation in life sciences, whose economic impact will continue to grow as the next generation’s workforce sees Indiana as the hub of advancement, research and collaboration.

“We have a lot of momentum and energy behind our efforts to drive more research and development and collaboration, including the new Indiana Biosciences Research Institute,” Johnson added.

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute is the nation’s first industry-led research institute which fosters collaboration among the industry leaders and university partners aimed at attracting top talent working to advance innovations and move Indiana from an emerging industry leader to THE industry leader in life sciences.

But when it comes to true economic impact, it’s easy to let the numbers speak for themselves. In addition to the over 55,000 direct jobs created by the life sciences industry, service providers and partners in manufacturing, information technology and logistics benefit from an estimated 140,000 jobs created to support our growing life science sector.

With the major growth this industry has seen over the past decade in Indiana, and with the ever growing collaboration among our industries and universities, the true impact of life sciences on our statewide and regional economy will be felt for generations to come.

As research today changes lives of tomorrow, one thing is for sure: Hoosiers are making their mark on the world one day at a time.

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