The largest programs.
About 60 organizations hold 100 or more NIH or VA grants that mention mice. At that size one animal care program serves many labs, so a program-wide decision on approved ID methods or stocked supplies can reach a lot of labs.
Enquirer Consulting Group
Research Lab Map: RapID Lab
Prepared for Ken Beres | RapID Lab | October 2026
As of Oct 9, 2026. Counts from published federal research grant records for fiscal year 2025 and federal statistics on US businesses for 2023, described in the notes at the foot
This page counts the US organizations most likely to keep mice for research, the labs that should know about RapID Tags. The first part counts the US organizations whose fiscal year 2025 NIH or VA research grants mention mice, sorted by type and by how many of those grants each one holds. It leaves out NIH's own in-house labs, which the grant records do not list by state. The second part counts biotechnology research and drug making locations in the federal business count, sorted by staff. It says who usually signs off at each, and nothing about which of them already use your tags.
US organizations with NIH or VA funded mouse research
1,000
Fiscal year 2025. One organization is one grantee record.
Of those, holding 25 or more mouse grants
150
The larger programs, where many labs share one animal care program.
Biotechnology research and development locations
5,700
US locations with paid staff, 2023, every size.
Biotechnology research locations with 50 or more staff
680
2023. Staff is the paid employees at that one location.
NIH or VA funded mouse research, by type and size
Organizations, fiscal year 2025, sized by how many of their NIH or VA grants mention mice.
| Type | All | 1 to 4 grants | 5 to 24 grants | 25 to 99 grants | 100 or more grants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical schools and universities | 350 | 140 | about 100 | about 70 | about 50 |
| Hospitals with research programs | about 40 | about 10 | about 20 | under 10 | under 10 |
| VA medical centers | about 70 | about 20 | about 40 | under 10 | none |
| Independent research institutes | about 90 | about 50 | about 30 | about 20 | under 10 |
| Companies with NIH or VA funded mouse work | 470 | 470 | under 10 | none | none |
| Other non-profits and labs | about 20 | about 20 | under 10 | none | none |
Biotechnology research and drug making locations, by staff
US locations with paid staff, 2023.
| Type | All | Under 10 staff | 10 to 49 | 50 to 249 | 250 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biotechnology research and development locations | 5,700 | 3,700 | 1,200 | 530 | 140 |
| Drug making locations (pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing) | 1,400 | 570 | 380 | 320 | 180 |
Who usually signs off
At a small lab one person often does all of it.
| Type | Who signs off |
|---|---|
| Medical schools and universities | The lab head or colony manager usually picks the ID method for their own mice and writes it into the animal protocol the institution's animal care committee (IACUC) approves. The attending veterinarian and facility director set which methods are allowed and may stock a standard supply. Purchasing usually runs through the lab's department. |
| Hospitals with research programs | The lab head or colony manager picks the method for their own mice, within what the attending veterinarian and research animal facility allow. Orders usually go through the hospital's research purchasing. |
| VA medical centers | The VA's research animal facility and its veterinarian, with the lab head choosing for their own work. Orders go through VA purchasing. |
| Independent research institutes | The lab head or colony manager, within what the vivarium director or attending veterinarian allow. Smaller institutes often run one shared facility. |
| Companies with NIH or VA funded mouse work | At a small company the founder or head of research often signs off, though many run their mouse studies at a university core or a contract lab, which then picks the tag. Larger ones have an in vivo lead or vivarium manager who sets the method. |
| Other non-profits and labs | The animal facility manager or attending veterinarian at that site. |
| Biotechnology research and development locations | The head of in vivo or preclinical research, or the vivarium manager where the company keeps its own animals. At a small company, the founder or chief scientific officer. |
| Drug making locations (pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing) | The vivarium or animal facility manager at sites with in-house animal work, with the preclinical study director. Many plants here make medicines and keep no animals. |
What no public count reaches
Three questions this page cannot answer from a count, said in words rather than shown as numbers.
Which labs already tag their mice, and with what. No public list shows how a lab identifies its animals, so that comes from conversations and from your own customer records.
How many mice each lab keeps. A count of funded projects points to the size of a program, not to the number of cages.
Mouse work paid for privately. It is not in the grant count. The business count catches some of it, at biotechnology and drug making locations, but cannot tell a lab with animals from one without and leaves out other research codes.
Three openings
Where the counts point.
Companies already funded for mouse work.
About 470 companies held NIH or VA grants that mention mice in fiscal year 2025. Most hold a single grant, so one person often decides, though many run their mouse studies at a university core or a contract lab.
Close to home in California.
About 160 of the funded organizations are in California, more than in any other state.
Denominators, definitions and sources
- Grant counts are from the federal research grant database (NIH RePORTER) for fiscal year 2025: US grants whose listed terms or abstract mention mice, mouse or murine, 23,256 grant records with a US state, grouped into 1,045 grantee organizations. NIH's own in-house labs carry no state in these records and are not counted. A mention of mice does not prove a lab keeps its own colony; some grants only cite mouse work.
- Business counts are establishments in the federal County Business Patterns for 2023, national file, all legal forms. An establishment is one location, sized by the paid employees there in the mid-March 2023 pay period. Industry codes: 541714 research and development in biotechnology; 325412 pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Locations with no paid staff are not counted.
- Built from published federal records, counts banded deliberately. Figures of 100 and over are rounded to two significant figures, figures from 10 to 99 to the nearest ten, and figures below 10 are shown as under 10, or none where there are none. Each figure is rounded on its own, so rows may not add to the totals.
The named version of this page, the actual labs inside a row, is built one row at a time. If you want to walk through a row together, pick a time at cal.com/ecg. Prepared by Paul Smaldone, paul@enquirerconsulting.com.
Enquirer Consulting Group | enquirerconsulting.com