ST. LOUIS – Scientists around St. Louis worry their medical research will lose key funding as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced changes on how finance grants can be received. 

Companies and institutions in Missouri were awarded more than 1,500 NIH grants in 2024, and1,192 of those went to Washington University—a worth of $732 million. 

However, a new cap on grant funding for “indirect costs” could cost the university millions of dollars in funding. 

A new NIH rule aims to cap grants to 15% on indirect costs. Those are defined as facilities and administrations. Researchers said they could lose key funding for administration, accounting and personnel. 

“Our leadership team is closely reviewing the policy, and our government relations team is engaging with congressional representatives,” wrote Washington University Chancellor Andrew Martin to staff over the weekend. 

Several small businesses in the St. Louis region also rely on these grants, like Intact Genomics in Maryland Heights. 

“We’re coming up with new ways to be able to isolate large chunks of DNA all in one piece so we can be able to do more research on it,” Brent Halling, vice president of Protein Research and Development, said. 

These forms of research create a convenience to study more diseases. 

“Our research is not just for fun. Our research is lifesaving,” Charles Wu, CEO of Chengcang, said. 

A new research project of theirs is garnering support from the NIH. A $960,000 grant aims to help find and develop new antibiotics to battle drug-resistant viruses. 

“The funding is used in a lot of ways just to keep a business running,” Halling said. 

Intact Genomics said although expenses are deemed “indirect,” they still have a direct impact on their business and success of their research. 

“We’re developing products. We have to be able to get the products out. There’s a lot of things that are beyond just the science,” Halling said. 

The new NIH grant rule was meant to take effect this week, but a federal judge temporarily paused it due to a new lawsuit filed by several universities.