With thousands of companies and a $102 billion impact on the state’s economy, Indiana’s life sciences industry is making its mark. The president and CEO of the Indiana Life Sciences Association discusses the sector’s upside, challenges and where it’s headed in the future.
Not everyone connects Indiana with the life sciences industry. For some people from other locales, corn is the first thing that comes to mind when they think of the Hoosier State, noted Kristin Jones, president and CEO of the Indiana Life Sciences Association.
“If you ask somebody in Boston, ‘What do you have in Indiana?’, that’s their answer,” she told BioSpace. “So, we have a lot to overcome from a perspective standpoint, I think, making sure people understand that there’s a lot more here than meets the eye.”
Jones described Indiana’s life sciences scene as large, robust and rapidly growing. A just-released report from nonprofit BioCrossroads quantifies that scope. In 2024, Indiana had more than 3,300 life sciences companies that employed about 70,000 people at an average wage of $177,000. The end result was a $102 billion impact on the state’s economy.
Home to Heavy Hitters Including Lilly
The sector, Jones noted, is diverse, ranging from biopharma, medical device and digital health employers to service and support businesses that make the industry run. Notable companies headquartered in Indiana include Eli Lilly and Corteva Agriscience, both in Indianapolis. Another well-known employer, Roche Diagnostics, bases its North American operations in the city as well.
Companies like those—and especially Lilly—generate a lot of exposure for Indiana, Jones said.
“Everybody, at some point, has come through to do business with Lilly or work for Lilly or knows somebody who works at Lilly and has come to visit,” she noted.
The pharma has invested heavily in the state over the years, including committing more than $13 billion to build the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a facility in Lebanon, Indiana, that will house research and manufacturing functions. The pharma expects the site will be operational in 2027 and will create around 400 jobs, including engineer, scientist, lab technician and operations positions.
Similar—Sometimes Better—Selling Points vs. Major Hubs
While Indiana is not a major life sciences hub, it has plenty to offer, Jones said.
We’re not a Boston, we’re not a San Francisco, we’re not San Diego, but we have all of the same key components that make all of those systems work, and a little bit more in some cases.
“We’re not a Boston, we’re not a San Francisco, we’re not San Diego, but we have all of the same key components that make all of those systems work, and a little bit more in some cases,” she shared.
For example, the state is home to respected research universities. One that Jones highlighted is Purdue, in part because of its radiopharmaceutical programs. Indiana was designated as the world’s radiopharmaceutical capital last year.
“Anybody you find in the field out there who’s doing anything in the [radiopharma] space usually has a Purdue University tie,” Jones said.
She also highlighted Indiana’s life sciences logistics sector, calling it one of the state’s core competencies—one that not every competitor can claim.
“Whole-chain logistics are our jam here, and there are so many companies that are doing the important work of getting all the stuff we make here to the places it needs to go,” Jones said.
Indiana is one of the country’s top exporters of life sciences goods, with over $13 billion in industry exports, according to the Indiana Life Sciences Association.
Other selling points for Indiana’s life sciences industry include a low cost of doing business and a collaborative environment, according to Jones.
Regarding cost, she noted that land, talent and manufacturing are more expensive in places such as California and Boston. From a talent perspective, for example, a 2025 CBRE report listed the annual median wage for medical scientists (except epidemiologists) as $145,081 in the San Francisco Bay Area; $129,230 in the Boston-Cambridge, Massachusetts, market; and $77,480 in Indianapolis.
Jones also highlighted how Indiana’s pillar companies, such as Lilly, Cook Medical, Corteva, Elanco Animal Health and Roche, work well together, as do its research universities.
“You can come to the table and talk to one another,” she said. “You can find the common issues, look for common paths forward that serve everybody.”
VC Funding, Limited Space Among State’s Challenges
While Jones spoke highly of Indiana’s life sciences industry, she noted that it does face challenges, including one that isn’t unique to the state: finding early to midstage venture capital (VC).
“Capital is scarce, and getting investors to come here and see what we have and talk with the companies is difficult,” Jones said.
The BioCrossroads report underscored VC challenges among younger businesses.
“Consistent with national trends, later stage companies with strong clinical or revenue milestones continued to secure financing,” it noted, “while earlier stage companies operated within a more measured capital environment.”
VC funding overall in Indiana proved challenging last year, based on the BioCrossroads report. The state received $192 million in venture capital in 2025, down from $260 million in 2024.
In positive funding news, Indiana’s life sciences industry just learned it will receive a significant financial boost. On March 17, Gov. Mike Braun announced the state is investing $1 billion in agricultural and life sciences. The investment is expected to create 100,000 high-wage jobs over 10 years.
“Based on measurable outcomes to ensure accountability and long-term ROI, this investment will make Indiana the re-shoring and expansion epicenter and premier destination for human therapeutics, animal health, agritech, biotechnology, and environmental innovation,” Braun said in the announcement.
While the funding influx was welcome news, there is another challenge that Indiana’s life sciences industry faces, Jones said. While the state has “millions and millions and millions” of square feet in lab and specialized manufacturing space, it’s in private hands and doesn’t turn over very often, she explained. That can prove difficult for companies looking for that kind of real estate.
“So, if you need it, you’re going to have to probably build it yourself, and that’s expensive,” Jones said. “And if you’re a small company, and your venture dollars are really there for research, that can be a real challenge.”
Looking Ahead: Pedal to the Metal
Five years from now, Jones expects the state’s life sciences industry to keep booming. She noted that a lot of Lilly’s investment will be coming online at that point, and several other large investments connected to the industry’s manufacturing reshoring movement will also be up and running. Those investments include Roche’s commitment last year of up to $550 million by 2030 to expand its Indianapolis diagnostics site.
“We have opportunities for companies to just really expand what they’re doing, and we’re seeing local expansion, we’re seeing investment to grow,” Jones said. “So, yeah, it’s going to be big—bigger, more robust and absolutely just probably pedal to the metal.”
