BioForward Wisconsin Condemns NIH’s Indirect Cost Cap as a Direct Threat to Innovation and Economic Growth
BioForward Wisconsin strongly opposes the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) recent directive imposing a blanket 15% cap on indirect costs for research grants. This policy undermines the very foundation of groundbreaking biomedical research, placing Wisconsin’s world-class research institutions and public-private biohealth ecosystem at a severe disadvantage. This decision will not only affect academic research but also impede the ability to translate that research into future leading-edge biohealth companies.
Unlike private foundations, NIH grants fuel the core of America’s scientific innovation, ensuring researchers have access to the facilities, infrastructure, and administrative support necessary to advance life-saving discoveries. By slashing indirect cost reimbursements, NIH is shifting a massive financial burden onto research institutions, forcing them to divert funds from critical programs, cut essential personnel, or simply forgo high-impact research altogether.
This policy will not only destabilize the research community, but it will also weaken the U.S.’s global competitiveness in biohealth and life sciences innovation at a time when we are aggressively trying to protect U.S. competitiveness against foreign competition such as China. China is making major research investments into a broad range of technologies and now is not the time to weaken the United States’ ability to compete. Wisconsin’s biohealth sector contributes over $37 billion to the state’s economy and supports over 141,000 jobs—investments that rely on critical research partnerships between our major research institutions and our biohealth industry. In FY2023 alone, NIH awarded Wisconsin $455 million in research funding, supporting 7,000 jobs and generating $1.2 billion in economic activity, demonstrating the profound economic ripple effect of this funding.
Nationally, the NIH reports a return of $2.50 in economic growth for every dollar invested in research. This multiplier effect underscores the value of sustaining robust indirect cost support, which funds essential infrastructure and administrative services critical to research operations. Capping these reimbursements jeopardizes not just scientific progress but also the broader economic impact NIH funding delivers to Wisconsin and the nation.
We call on NIH to reverse this policy and engage in meaningful dialogue with research institutions, industry leaders, and policymakers to ensure sustainable funding mechanisms that truly support the advancement of technological innovation and science. BioForward Wisconsin stands united with our partners in defending the integrity of our research ecosystem and ensuring that federal funding policies strengthen—not sabotage—our nation’s leadership in biohealth innovation.
