Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health Additional Gourics issued indicating that it would immediately impose a ceiling of 15% on indirect costs for research subsidies, an unprecedented and brutal reduction in federal science financing which would have major negative and involuntary consequences for the position of San Diego as a hub of scientific research and biomedical innovation, and our ability to make discoveries that change life and new drugs.
An important aspect of the situation that has been underdeveloped is that the basis of this reduction – a comparison of indirect cost rates federal to those of foundations, which use different formulas – is ill -informed.
The majority of Research funding received By Scripps Research and other peers institutions in San Diego come from NIH, and indirect costs are essential to maintain the infrastructure and operational support which allow revolutionary research on human diseases.
By pleading to considerably reduce the financing of general costs, The NIH has referenced well -known private foundations With indirect costs considerably lower than that of the federal government. However, this is a comparison of apples / orange – The indirect foundation cost rates follow a different and larger framework Regarding the definition of direct and indirect costs.
The foundations consider certain costs of facilities – such as research laboratory space, scientific IT and critical laboratory functions such as animal health and safety – as direct research expenses, resulting in Indirect costs rates that seem considerably lower, but in practice effectively reimburse the same dark as the indirect cost rates of the federal government.
This funding is so essential to scientific research that we rarely accept the financing of subsidies of foundations which do not support these essential research costs. A ceiling for indirect cost rate of 15% on federal subsidies does not correspond to the models of financing private foundations – it is rather a seismic and unprecedented reduction in American federal expenditure in scientific research.
As an independent non -profit research institute, Scripps Research and other peers in the region are at the heart of the San Diego economy, and federal research funding is essential to maintain the position of the region among the country’s leaders in the life sciences.
We focus on scientific research with high impact and use the ideas of this research to develop new drugs that improve and prolong human life. As a reference point, Scripps research discoveries have enabled 15 approved therapies, including leuustatine for leukemia, vyndamax for heart disease and surfaxine, vital therapy for premature infants.
In 2024 only, we have advanced four new vital therapies in human clinical trials, and we will probably spend five others towards the patient’s bedside in 2025. These include new innovative therapies for breast and lung cancer, the Pulmonary fibrosis, autoimmune and metabolic diseases, and intestinal and viral diseases.
The scientific discoveries and advances in Scripps research have also led to the training of more than 50 biotechnology companies in the San Diego region. In simple terms, we provide significant yields on the investment of taxpayers who benefit the public in the form of economic activity and improves health results.
We applaud the efforts to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are used efficiently and effectively, and support for indirect costs does exactly this, offering infrastructure, security and operational support for research. This financing covers expenses such as laboratories, their public services, shared equipment and research facilities, data security and information technologies and regulatory compliance activities required by the federal government, such as animal care and patient safety requirements.
The imposition of a general cap – regardless of the type of research organization (for example, University, Research Institute, Hospital) and without corresponding modifications regarding the costs captured by this ceiling – would harm our seriously research operations, Save our ability to attract, keep and form the best scientific talents and entail our ability to make discoveries that change life and new drugs.
In addition, the consequences will extend beyond Scripps research, threatening the broader ecosystem of the life sciences of San Diego, who, who, who, who, who, who, who Contributes more than $ 27 billion to the regional economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs.
Nationally, a seriously weakened research infrastructure would be compromised the leadership of America in biomedical innovation, one of the main engines of national prosperity and public health, and at a time when others Nations invest strongly in the life sciences and bind to replace the United States as an undisputed leader in the undeniable life sciences today.
Schultz, Ph.D., is president and chief executive officer of Scripps Research and lives in the county of San Diego.