New additions to Indiana’s OneHealth Innovation District: Human, Animal, and Plant Health

Indianapolis hopes to become a global hub for bioscience innovation, thanks to the development of the OneHealth Innovation District along the White River announced last year. This project is centered around a 70-acre site, the former General Motors Stamping Plant, in downtown Indy. At the heart of it all is animal health business Elanco’s brand-new, 220,000-square-foot global headquarters. The idea is to bring together human, animal, and plant health research, along with development and manufacturing.

Additionally this week, Indiana venture builder Alloy Partners announced the launch of the OneHealth Studio, working in partnership with Elanco. "The new OneHealth Studio will serve as an incubator for innovative ideas and a community of partners who are dedicated to solving some of the world's most interconnected health challenges," said Elliott Parker, CEO of Alloy Partners. "Our goal is to make Indiana a premier destination for building startups shaping the convergence of human health, animal health and agriculture." 

The Elanco headquarters, opened in October, now houses over 725 employees in the Greater Indianapolis region. It boasts advanced labs and flexible workspaces meant to support multidisciplinary research and development.

"Through combining expertise across sectors and having the studio within the OneHealth Innovation District, we're able to create an environment where we can rapidly scale ideas to support impactful solutions for people, animals and the planet," Elanco’s CEO, Jeff Simmons, said at the time in the announcement.

Purdue University also committed in the OneHealth Innovation District announcement to building a research and academic facility that will include office space, wet labs, and startup incubators, complementing Elanco’s headquarters while fostering a collaborative environment. “The One Health Innovation District will propel the state’s vision for our regional technology hub aimed at accelerating collaborative innovation in our life sciences,” Indiana Gov. at the time, Eric Holcomb, had said. “The district will create an ecosystem that is focused on talent, applied research, and innovation that can be sustained for generations to come.”

Purdue’s  partnership includes plans for a shared-use facility designed to nurture innovation and help bring ideas to market, while Elanco had announced plans for an Animal Health Venture Fund aimed worth $2 million at investing in early-stage startups.

Purdue’s partnership includes plans for a shared-use facility designed to nurture innovation and help bring ideas to market, while Elanco had announced plans for an Animal Health Venture Fund aimed worth $2 million at investing in early-stage startups.

Through all these interconnected initiatives, The OneHealth Innovation District, anchored by Elanco and Purdue, can potentially become a vital hub for accelerating life science innovation and fostering interconnected health solutions in Indianapolis.