Purdue University plans to partner with Elanco Animal Health to develop a shared-use facility on three acres near the future Elanco global headquarters on the west edge of the White River in Indianapolis, state and company officials announced Thursday afternoon.

The facility will be part of newly-created OneHealth Innovation District, according to an announcement made by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb during Indiana’s 2024 Global Economic Center at the Indiana Convention Center.

Purdue President Mung Chiang and Elanco CEO Jeff Simmons signed a shared memorandum of understanding with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to establish the research innovation district, which will be “dedicated to optimizing the health of people, animals, plants and the planet.”

The facility is expected to help create and improve innovation where industry and academia can collaborate, and will include office, wet lab and incubator space.

Elanco’s 220,000-square-foot headquarters is expected to open in the second quarter of 2025.

Elanco also announced a commitment to purchase an additional 12 acres to the north of the headquarters for future expansion and the development of the Epicenter for Animal Health.

“For life-changing innovations to move from idea to reality, they must grow in the right environment,’” said Simmons in a written statement. “The many partners in the Indianapolis’ OneHealth Innovation District will set Indianapolis apart as an area where innovators will find a vast ecosystem of support, including one of the world’s leading universities, funding, lab space, collaboration with many other innovators and companies and most significantly shared technical development and pilot plant facilities to manufacture and scale innovations.”

This story will be updated.

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