BioCoder #7

Chapter 6. The Cost of Science: The Demand for Price Transparency

Sean Seaver

If your lab’s supplies suddenly cost 30% less each month, what could you do with the money you saved?

Maybe as chemists you could buy time-saving, presynthesized chemicals instead of making them on your own. Maybe you could even hire another research assistant to help you get better results faster.

With budgets already tight, saving 30% might seem like a long shot. But when we analyzed more than 10,000 lab supply purchases, that’s the amazing average. What’s the biggest single factor that would allow researchers to save that amount? Transparent pricing.

We’ve come to expect price transparency when we’re shopping for goods in our personal lives. One quick product search on Google or Amazon yields ordered lists of competing stores and prices, with shipping policies and other fees clearly marked. But when we search for lab supplies online, it’s nearly impossible to find the best prices easily.

Consider this: the University of Toledo in Ohio regularly spends $8 million to $10 million on research supplies and chemicals. Saving 30% means $2.5 million to $3 million each year. For perspective, the University of Toledo increased its tuition by 3.5% in 2012 for a projected revenue increase of $7.6 million.

These savings matter. So why aren’t we researchers getting access to competitive, transparent pricing for our chemical and lab supplies in what is estimated to be a $39-billion-dollar-industry?

How Lab Supply ...