Driven in part by concerns regarding the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs, more Indiana life science companies participated in a years-old shared purchasing program offered by the Indiana Life Sciences Association.
By the end of this year, 53 Hoosier life science companies, including startups and established businesses, were participating in the BIO Business Solutions Program, up from 44 at the start of the year, according to the Indiana Life Sciences Association, a statewide industry trade group based in Indianapolis.
Combined estimated savings for 2025 totaled $12 million, up from $10 million in 2024.
Kristin Jones, CEO of the Indiana Life Sciences Association, attributed the increase to overall growth in the sector—and also to stockpiling amid worries that potential tariffs would raise prices.
The program—available for free to Indiana Life Sciences Association Members through the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or BIO, a national trade group—offers life science association member companies negotiated discounts off list prices on a variety of goods including lab equipment, office supplies, corporate travel, shipping and insurance.
For example, member companies can receive discounts from Nikon’s BioImaging Lab services, which includes access to their cutting-edge microscope systems and imaging software and processing services, according to the BIO website. Members can also receive deep discounts on lab waste disposal and transportation and materials fees via CleanHarbors.
Jones said program discounts were significant, up to 75% off list prices. She noted that, with only about one-fifth of the group’s roughly 250 members participating in the group purchasing program, there is room for growth.
“It’s been a great addition to what we’ve been able to offer as a benefit to our members,” Jones said of the program that began in the early 2000s. “You’re getting the benefit even if you’re a small company even of a price negotiation of a large international company. You get the purchasing power of that.”
The Indiana Life Science Association also receives a small percentage of the money spent by its members under the group purchasing arrangement with BIO.
Under the program, BIO negotiates the discounts with the vendors and receives rebates from those savings, a percentage of which is passed on to state groups like the Indiana Life Sciences Association.
President Donald Trump made a lot of tariff threats and trade promises over the course of 2025, many of which materialized into a barrage of new import taxes—but others, such as a 100% tariff on branded or patented medicines, have not come to fruition, according to The Associated Press.
While they didn’t materialize, these potential tariffs generated significant concern for many in the biopharmaceutical industry.
In September, John F. Crowley, president and CEO of BIO, said in a written statement that the proposed 100% tariffs could “devastate our nation’s small and mid-sized biotechnology companies.”
“Most of these companies do not have access to the significant capital needed to immediately establish manufacturing in the U.S.,” Crowley said. “Due to the complexity and capital-intensive nature of biomanufacturing, the vast majority of these small-to mid-size biotech innovators rely on contract manufacturers to produce their medicines. These companies especially need time and stability in both the policy environment and capital markets to explore domestic manufacture of their often life-saving medicines, many of which are for rare and fatal diseases, often in children.”
Tariff uncertainty is real. A survey this year by Deloitte of 120 health care and life sciences executives worldwide found that about U.S. firms, 64% have taken action to secure their supply chains to ensure resilience during unanticipated global disruptions.
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