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INDIANAPOLIS – Construction is set to begin on a 150,000-square-foot research, collaboration and innovation hub at the One Health Innovation District on the west side of downtown Indianapolis.
Leaders from Elanco Animal Health Inc., Purdue University, the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the CEOs of Indiana Corporate Partnership and the city of Indianapolis broke ground Tuesday morning at the site of the future One Health Research Institute.
The research institute, just west of Elanco’s new 220,000-square-foot headquarters at the One Health Innovation District, is expected to open in 2030. The facility’s estimated cost has not been finalized.
“When you combine Purdue’s world-class R1 research capabilities with Elanco’s global reach and animal health leadership, something powerful we know will happen,” Elanco CEO Jeff Simmons said Tuesday. “We will remove barriers between discovery and delivery by bringing academia and enterprise together under one roof. We believe we can move innovation from the lab to the world with unprecedented speed and scale. That’s the bigger vision that takes place today.”
Elanco and Purdue will lead the One Health Research Institute with Purdue as the academic and research anchor and Elanco as the industry and innovation anchor.
The facility will feature advanced research laboratories, shared research infrastructure and equipment, collaboration space, and facilities supporting animal health and veterinary partners. The building will be designed to bring researchers, clinicians, industry partners and entrepreneurs in animal, human, plant and environmental health into one setting.
“The One Health Innovation District fits squarely into both Purdue’s historic land-grant missions and our present-day position as the state’s research and technology flagship university,” Purdue Interim President Mitch Daniels said. “And it represents the next big step in expanding Purdue’s presence in Indianapolis and contribution to Indiana’s economic vitality.”
Simmons said companies have expressed interest in locating at the One Health Research Institute. He expects announcements will be made in 2027.
“Prospective occupants will include companies in diagnostics, in biotech, in vet services, in oncology, microbiome, crop protection, among others,” Simmons said.
Simmons, Daniels, Indiana Economic Development Corp. President Mitch Frazier, CEOs of Indiana Corporate Partnership CEO Melina Kennedy and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett participated in Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony.
The One Health Innovation District is an expansion of the original plans Elanco had for part of the former General Motors stamping plant site on the west bank of the White River between West Washington Street and Oliver Avenue. The Indianapolis-based public company relocated from Greenfield to its new headquarters last October.
When it is completed, leaders of the One Health Innovation District expect it will have 1.45 million square feet of office and innovation space, 823,000 square feet of residential space, 177,000 square feet of dining and retail space and 20 acres of parks, trails and waterfront.
The $40 million Greenlawn Memorial Bridge, originally known as the Henry Street Bridge, will connect the One Health Innovation District to downtown Indianapolis and extend the Indianapolis Cultural Trail when it opens in early 2027. The name of the bridge is a tribute to the early Indianapolis burial ground on which it was built.
“Innovation districts are proliferating because people do understand that proximity does matter,” Daniels said. “When you put brilliant scientists close together with people who are trying to translate science into new goods and services, sparks fly and good things happen.”
