On the grounds of the former General Motors stamping plant along the White River in downtown Indianapolis, a new vision for animal agriculture and agbioscience took physical root on Tuesday.
Anchored by Purdue University and Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, leaders officially broke ground on the One Health Research Institute—a purpose-built, 150,000-square-foot research, incubator, and laboratory facility designed to bring animal, human, and plant health together under one collaborative roof.
While the multi-million-dollar facility is located in an urban innovation district, the solutions designed inside its walls are built squarely for the barn floor, feedlot, and pasture. Expected to be open and operational by 2030, the institute aims to accelerate the delivery of real-world diagnostics, vaccines, and digital health tools directly to livestock producers across the nation.
Bridging the Gap from Laboratory to Barn Door
For livestock producers facing unprecedented headwinds—ranging from biosecurity pressures like Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever to shifting consumer demands and tightening margins—the collaboration promises to shorten the traditional timeline from scientific discovery to commercial application.
Purdue University will serve as the research and academic anchor, connecting faculty, vet med clinicians, and R1 research capabilities directly with industry partners. Elanco will act as the commercialization anchor, leveraging its global animal health expertise to bring emerging discoveries to market.
“I start with just the farmers today in Indiana and across this country—never been faced with more challenge,” said Jeff Simmons, President and CEO of Elanco Animal Health. “It’s gonna take more innovation. We’re gonna be able to have right here in the state of Indiana people every day working to solve problems. And it’s gonna start every day with a problem statement: ‘What if? What if we could do this to the dairyman or the pork industry or the cattle industry, what could happen?’ I want this to be the top place for the next generation of talent.”
Simmons emphasized that the facility’s unique proximity to Elanco’s global headquarters—which opened just one year ago—creates an unprecedented ecosystem where startup entrepreneurs, academic scientists, and corporate developers can collaborate seamlessly.
“Some of the greatest innovations in plant and animal health have come from human health, or academia and life sciences,” Simmons noted. “So we’re going to converge that. Watch out—we’re going to produce a lot of products that are going to help Indiana farmers, U.S. farmers, but more importantly just human health, animal health, plant health like never before.”
A Land-Grant Mission Expanded
For Purdue University, the project represents a major expansion of its land-grant mission, connecting the agricultural research powerhouse in West Lafayette to an urban innovation hub.
Mitch Daniels, Interim President of Purdue University and former Indiana Governor, highlighted that while the “One Health” concept ties together the interconnected health of animals, humans, and plants, its primary power lies in translating pure science into practical utility.
“This project, I think, will be in your term a game changer for health literally worldwide, as well as for the economy of Indiana,” Daniels said. “On the other hand, it’s very much the game Purdue’s been in forever. We’re here to advance the frontiers of science, turn that into useful—in this case, healthful and life-giving—innovation, and contribute to the economic growth of our state.”
Addressing how this urban research hub will directly serve rural communities and livestock producers, Daniels stressed the talent pipeline and collaborative model being established.
“When you put brilliant scientists close together with people who are trying to translate science into new goods and services, sparks fly, good things happen,” Daniels explained. “We know that more of those students will stay here, make their lives here… making it much more likely that Indiana captures them for life.”
What “One Health” Means for the Future of Agbioscience
The district is intentionally planned to integrate research, diagnostic laboratories, clinical trials, and manufacturing capacity. By bringing human health leaders like Eli Lilly and IU School of Medicine into the same geographic orbit as Elanco and Purdue Agriculture, developers aim to leverage cross-disciplinary breakthroughs.
For livestock producers, that cross-discipline approach means therapeutics developed initially for human wellness or oncology might find adapted applications in herd health, or digital disease-monitoring sensors could be adapted from human diagnostics to detect early respiratory illness in cattle and swine.
With multiple memoranda of understanding already signed with prospective industry partners seeking to co-locate within the institute, both Elanco and Purdue leaders maintain that the Midwest—and Indianapolis in particular—is positioned to lead the world in next-generation agricultural biotechnology.
As construction gets underway, the overarching goal remains clear: turning high-level research into concrete solutions that keep American livestock producers competitive, sustainable, and resilient for generations to come.
CLICK BELOW for Hoosier Ag Today’s radio news report:
