'Research labs would literally go dark,' academic groups warn of NIH cuts – The Business Journals

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"Without support of (facilities and administration) costs, research labs would literally go dark," said a joint statement from several academic research coalitions.
Ohio State University, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and others stand to lose tens of millions of dollars that support many jobs because the National Institutes of Health abruptly slashed grant support for overhead expenses.
The NIH in a Friday announcement cut the so-called indirect expense rate for facilities and administration to 15% of direct research costs. Indirect costs include support staff, utilities, building maintenance, data storage, safety and regulatory compliance.
“Reduced NIH funding will lead to fewer research projects, fewer opportunities for collaboration with industry partners, and ultimately, job losses in both academia and the private sector,” said a statement from Ohio Life Sciences Association, representing 4,900 research, medical and biotech establishments.
Ohio State’s negotiated rate ranges from 26% for off-campus research to 57.5% for on-campus research, so the new rate could be as little as one-fourth the previous support for overhead.
Research has not been interrupted, a university spokesman said via email.
“Without support of (facilities and administration) costs, research labs would literally go dark,” said a joint statement from several academic research coalitions. “Any reduction … would hinder scientific progress and jeopardize America’s innovation leadership in a highly competitive global landscape.”
OSU’s Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge “worked through the weekend” to determine the impact, according to an email to staff on Sunday. Meanwhile OSU lobbyists and other units joined industry and national academic organizations in advocating for “continued support for lifesaving research.”
NIH grants support half of the research from the OSU College of Medicine.
“The effects of the (NIH) rate change notice will be immediate and devastating,” said a federal lawsuit filed Monday by attorneys general of 22 states, not including Ohio. “This agency action will result in layoffs, suspension of clinical trials, disruption of ongoing research programs and laboratory closures.”
Ohio State is by far the largest recipient of the total $1 billion in NIH research grants statewide, according to NIH data. Indirect costs totaled $75.2 million of $260.9 million in NIH grants in fiscal 2024, according to NIH data.
The amount of the cut can’t be calculated without a breakdown of location and activity. The university could not supply the dollar amount, a spokesman said via email.
Overall that $1 billion in research funding supports 13,000 jobs in the state, according to an analysis last spring by advocacy organization United for Medical Research.
The Wexner Research Institute of Nationwide Children’s Hospital said it received $69.1 million in NIH funding in FY24, $21.5 million of that indirect – which only partially covered those overhead expenses. Its negotiated rates range from 28% to 56%, according to an archived contract through 2024.
“These cuts would undermine critical progress in cutting-edge research focused on serving and saving children in our region and across the country,” the pediatric hospital said in a statement.
Battelle received $31.8 million in NIH grants in FY24, but indirect costs are not broken out in its data. Representatives were not immediately available.
Overall, Central Ohio organizations, including several biotech startups, received $365.5 million.
Messages seeking comment were left with the offices of U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty and Mike Carey, whose districts include Columbus and Ohio’s U.S. Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted.
The cuts are illegal, according to the lawsuit by the states in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The complaint asks the court to declare the cut unlawful and prevent it from taking effect. A temporary restraining order was issued but applied only to those 22 states.
In a similar case brought in the same court by the Association of American Medical Colleges, a judge issued a nationwide temporary restraining order late Monday against the rate changes, according to a press release.
Participating attorneys general in the states’ case were mostly Democrats. A message seeking comment was left with Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican running for Ohio governor.
In his first term, President Donald Trump proposed capping indirect costs at 10%, the lawsuit said, and in 2018 “Congress unequivocally responded” by banning NIH or the Department of Health and Human Services from deviating from negotiated rates for indirect costs.
Institutions negotiate the rates with the agency and expenses are audited, it said.
“Effectively halting research to cure and treat human disease will directly impact the well-being of the plaintiff states’ citizens,” the complaint said.
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