Indiana Governor Tours World's First Bone Marrow Bank

Ossium Health's innovative approach aims to solve donor shortage for blood cancer patients.

Apr. 7, 2026 at 9:51pm

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A ghostly, translucent X-ray photograph revealing the internal structure of a human spinal column, with the bone marrow glowing faintly within, conceptually representing Ossium Health's work in extracting and storing bone marrow for medical use.Ossium Health's innovative approach to harvesting and banking bone marrow from deceased donors aims to solve a critical shortage and save lives.Indianapolis Today

Indiana Governor Mike Braun visited the Indianapolis facility of Ossium Health, the world's first bone marrow bank, which is pioneering a new method of harvesting and storing bone marrow from deceased organ donors. The company's co-founders believe this could dramatically increase the availability of bone marrow transplants for patients battling blood cancers like leukemia.

Why it matters

Historically, bone marrow transplants have relied on live donors, leading to a shortage that results in thousands of patient deaths each year. Ossium Health's approach of harvesting and banking marrow from deceased donors has the potential to solve this critical problem and save many lives.

The details

Ossium Health was founded in 2016 and extracts bone marrow as well as bone material from the spinal columns of deceased organ donors. This allows the company to stockpile marrow and make it available on demand for patients in need, rather than forcing them to search for a live donor match for months. The company says its Indianapolis location and partnership with local hospitals have allowed it to carry out the first procedures using this new technique.

  • Ossium Health was founded in 2016.
  • Governor Braun toured the facility on April 7, 2026.

The players

Gov. Mike Braun

The Republican governor of Indiana who announced $1 billion in performance-based incentives for life sciences companies in the state.

Kevin Caldwell

The co-founder of Ossium Health who envisions the company's bone marrow bank solving the donor shortage that leads to thousands of patient deaths each year.

Erik Woods

The co-founder of Ossium Health who toured the facility with Governor Braun.

Ossium Health

A company founded in 2016 that is operating the world's first bone marrow bank, extracting and storing bone marrow from deceased organ donors.

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What they’re saying

“We envisioned solving this problem by making a bone marrow transplant something that can be done on demand, on request, not something that a patient has to search for for months in hopes of finding a donor.”

— Kevin Caldwell, Co-founder, Ossium Health

“This is kind of the prototypical thing I want to see in our state around this whole idea of life sciences. We've got so much potential in this state. It's the Crossroads of America that gives you all the logistic benefits. But with institutions like Purdue, IU, Notre Dame, Rose-Hulman, we need more STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degrees.”

— Gov. Mike Braun

What’s next

Ossium Health plans to continue expanding its bone marrow bank and work with local hospitals to perform more procedures using the harvested and stored marrow.

The takeaway

Ossium Health's innovative approach to harvesting and banking bone marrow from deceased donors has the potential to dramatically increase the availability of life-saving bone marrow transplants, addressing a critical shortage that has led to thousands of preventable deaths. Indiana's governor sees this as a prime example of the state's growing strength in the biosciences sector.