Purdue and Lilly formalize collaboration to expand the development of new technology and accelerate the pace of delivering medicines to patients

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University and Eli Lilly and Company are strengthening their long-standing strategic research collaboration with the announcement of the Eli Lilly and Company and Purdue University Research Alliance Center (LPRC). The partnership advances bold science through discovery, innovation, education and technology transfer to improve health outcomes around the world.

The LPRC will serve as an essential hub for collaborative exploration of new technologies that enhance every phase of pharmaceutical research, from discovery to delivery.

The LPRC’s mission is to push the boundaries of science through collective learning and active engagement between Purdue and Lilly researchers. The basic research in collaboration with Purdue faculty and students helps Lilly investigate the development of technologies and medicines, improving the pace of getting therapies to people who need them.

Currently, LPRC researchers at Purdue and Lilly are focused on genetic medicine, intrathecal delivery and nanoparticle drug delivery.

The LPRC also supports Purdue’s recently announced One Health initiative, which advances knowledge and innovation related to animal, human and environmental well-being through novel interdisciplinary initiatives and partnerships with industry.

“Purdue and Lilly researchers have long demonstrated the strength that’s gained by working together,” said Karen Plaut, Purdue’s executive vice president for research. “Through this center, we will continue to make better science and scientists for the future.”

To deliver on the promise of better health, the collaboration is engaging more than 50 researchers and 65 graduate students in key research that will build on previous accomplishments. Those achievements, which have created fertile ground for future health solutions, include 136 publications, 125 scientific disclosures of intellectual property, 8 patents and 1 copyright. 

Building on the strategic partnership established in 2017 and expanded in 2023, the LPRC also is committed to fostering the next generation of pharmaceutical professionals through extensive student engagement initiatives. By developing unique curricula, experiential learning opportunities and degree programs, the partnership aims to strengthen Indiana’s talent pipeline in support of Lilly’s mission to make medicines that make life better for people who need them. This initiative is already well underway, with 323 graduate and 13 undergraduate students actively engaged in LPRC research to date.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.