Eli Lilly and Purdue University Announce Landmark $250 Million Research Collaboration
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and Purdue University today unveiled a major expansion of their long-standing partnership, with Lilly committing up to $250 million over the next eight years. This groundbreaking initiative has the potential to become the largest industry-academic research collaboration of its kind in the United States, aiming to accelerate innovation across every stage of the pharmaceutical pipeline.
The Lilly-Purdue 360 Initiative will focus on several strategic goals: advancing the discovery and delivery of new medicines, bridging the gap between laboratory research and clinical applications, strengthening supply chain resilience and sustainability, and developing scalable, innovative workforce training programs. The expanded alliance is also expected to generate significant economic benefits for Indiana by cultivating a highly skilled workforce and driving local innovation.
The original agreement, previously set to expire in 2027, will now extend through 2032, adding four new projects to the collaboration. Existing joint programs — including the Lilly Scholars at Purdue and the Lilly and Purdue Research Alliance Center (LPRC) — will continue under the expanded partnership. As part of the initiative, Lilly researchers will work on-site at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus, while Purdue researchers will collaborate within Lilly’s Indianapolis facilities and at Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District.
“As potentially the largest single university-industry research agreement in American history, Lilly and Purdue are blazing a new trail to the endless frontier,” said Purdue University President Mung Chiang. “For our state, when its largest company and largest university expand collaboration on this scale — especially alongside Lilly’s manufacturing facility in the LEAP District — today marks a monumental watershed moment. This partnership will generate jobs, build workforce capacity, and spark innovation along America’s Hard-Tech Corridor. We are grateful to Lilly for its pioneering leadership in advancing health and medicine and for what is now the largest single research investment, public or private, in Purdue’s history.”
To achieve its ambitious objectives, the Lilly-Purdue 360 Initiative will concentrate on several key areas:
- Harnessing AI and advanced analytics to enhance drug discovery, investigate disease mechanisms, and develop personalized treatments.
- Accelerating the transition from early clinical studies to manufacturing by leveraging cutting-edge technologies, a major focus of the Lilly Medicine Foundry.
- Integrating robotics, AI, and data science to rapidly scale up manufacturing capacity with improved compliance, efficiency, and sustainability.
- Advancing workforce development to build a robust talent pipeline that meets the evolving needs of Lilly and other Indiana employers.
“Accelerating the delivery of life-changing medicines requires both a highly skilled workforce and relentless innovation across the full spectrum of discovery, development, and manufacturing,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly’s chair and CEO. “Through this expanded collaboration with Purdue, we are excited to combine our strengths in advanced technologies and breakthrough science to pioneer new ways of delivering next-generation medicines and improving human health.”
The Lilly-Purdue 360 Initiative also supports Purdue’s One Health initiative, which promotes interdisciplinary research and innovation to improve the well-being of animals, humans, and plants through dynamic partnerships with industry.
Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
About Lilly
Lilly is a medicine company turning science into healing to make life better for people around the world. We’ve been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help tens of millions of people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world’s most significant health challenges: redefining diabetes care; treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects; advancing the fight against Alzheimer’s disease; providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders; and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we’re motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable.S
