An industry-driven biosciences research institute, in partnership with the state's research universities, opened on May 30 in Indiana, focused on commercializing home-grown healthcare innovations. The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) supported by the region's BioCrossroads—an initiative to strengthen life sciences businesses across the state—will collaborate with Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame. On its board of directors sit industry players, including Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, Dow AgroSciences and Roche Diagnostics, Warsaw-based Biomet Biologics, and Cook of Bloomington. As for funding, the state of Indiana has appropriated $25 million of the $50 million biennium startup costs, and Lilly Endowment, an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation, donated $10 million in June. The remainder is being sought from corporate and philanthropic sources, to reach an estimated $360 million. Industry is anticipated to provide up to a third of the annual operating budget through sponsored research, a level unprecedented anywhere else in the country, according to David Johnson, BioCrossroads' CEO. Additional operating cash flow will come from IBRI endowment proceeds and federally funded research. In Indiana, the diverse life sciences cluster and university assets are unlike those in any other state, creating opportunities for collaboration towards common scientific discoveries, according to Darren Carroll, vice president for Eli Lilly's corporate business development, and also on IBRI's board. IBRI will focus on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and nutrition. Details about how discoveries will be taken forward remain sketchy, although Carroll says each will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and intellectual property policies have yet to be finalized.