Aims

To increase the capacity of Projects to successfully advance the development of the Asset into commercialisation with the ultimate aim of providing innovative solutions for health through:

» Facilitating technologies with very high potential to reach market and respond to societal needs.

» Ensuring that researchers leading groundbreaking Projects can successfully achieve their entreprenurial goals.

» Strengthening innovation that is society-oriented in the Iberian biomedical research ecosystem.

» Triggering a cultural change in the research ecosystem that fosters license agreements with existing companies and the creation of new health-based companies.

To support Projects from public or non-profit legal entities in their development of results from scientific research (the “Assets”) into further transferability and/or commercialisation stages in which they are able to attract commercial investment (the “Projects”).

Therefore, selected Projects will be supported according to their specific necessities, nature, and maturity stage in order to achieve the:

Completion or execution of valorisation actions through a defined point-of-value in the development plan, including prototyping or testing with end users;

Design and/or completion of a business plan;

Design of strategies to access main stakeholders (end users, buyers, distributors, etc.);

Establishment of a plan to make the product, technology, or service attractive for investors and potential licensees in the biomedical sector.

Requirements for the Projects

Projects must be aimed at the valorisation and commercialisation of the protected or protectable Assets resulting from research.

Projects must be related to the areas of Life, Medical and Health Sciences

Projects must have IP registration for their assets or any other proven protection strategy, including the application of measures to protect trade secrets.

For the Beneficiary of a Valorisation Grant:

They must be non-profit legal entities.

Type of entity: Universities, university foundations, research and transfer centres, technology centres, hospitals, hospital foundations and non-profit institutions whose main activity is research.

They must be the owner or co-owner of the protected or protectable Assets resulting from the research and subject of the Valorisation Plan.

One same Beneficiary may complete more than one application provided that they are associated to different protected or protectable Assets resulting from different research projects.

Established companies are explicitly excluded.

For the Project Leaders:

Project Leaders must be legal person with tertiary qualifications (university graduate, professor or doctor)

Their exclusive or main dedication to the validation Project, according to the Promoters criteria, for the business idea or transfer to market is required. Project Leader may not be involved in more than one application.

The Project Leaders may or may not be the leader of the research project that generated the Assets.

He or she must be connected to the Beneficiary either by statute or employment

How to apply

To initiate the submission process, Project Leaders will need to complete the online application forms available on the LCBF application platform (www.CaixaImpulse. com) and provide the required documentation. Incomplete applications or those presented on paper or via any other channel may be considered ineligible.

Applications must be completed in English. LCBF reserves the right to request for the translation of official documents into English, when reasonably justified.

To accelerate the proposal evaluation process, the application process will entail two steps: the initial submission of a Letter of Intent, and the subsequent submission of a Full Proposal. Only pre-selected Projects will be invited to submit a Full Proposal.

A template for the Letter of Intent will be available on the LCBF application platform. The following information and documentation will be requested: » General information and Project description » Team and Scientific and technical feasibility » Transferability and market potential » Social relevance and potential impact » Letter from the Beneficiary informing about the link with the Project Leader and its commitment with regards to the Project.

For pre-selected Projects invited to submit a Full Proposal in the electronic platform, the following additional documentation may be requested:

» Development stage of the Project:

» Documentation on valorisation activities (e.g., Valorisation Plan, Business Plan, Proof of Concept and Validation, Prototypes, Preclinical/clinical assays, participation in other entrepreneurship or acceleration programmes, etc.). Max. 10 pages.

» IP protection actions (e.g., patent, utility model).

» Reference letters/support letter from the TTO office or equivalent institution (if available).

» In case the Beneficiary had incorporated a Spin-off Company: the public deed of incorporation, the technology transfer agreement, a shareholders’ engagement letter (including a statement on accepting the Spin-off Company to be declared as a Linked Third Party, if applicable) (the “Engagement Letter”), and any other document that may be deemed necessary for this purpose, upon specific request from LCBF (e.g., agreements signed with the Spin-off Company, the shareholders’ agreement, an updated statement on the shareholders).

» Compliance of the Beneficiary with the legal and regulatory requirements:

» A certificate from the Tax Agency assuring that the applicant centre has fulfilled its obligations with regards to taxation, valid at the moment of application.

» Social Security certificate, valid at application date, assuring that the applicant centre has fulfilled its obligations with regards to employment.

» Copy of the power of attorney certifying the capacity of the representative to act on behalf of the Beneficiary.

» Acceptance Letter1 duly signed (template provided).

» In case of consortia and/or the participation of Linked Third Parties as provided under 4.13 and 4.14, to specify the distribution of the grant between the members of the consortium (templated provided) and/or the Spin-off.

Financial Resources

A grant of up to EUR 300,000 for 24 months (the “Grant”).

LCBF may consider, by way of exception, a Grant amount above this limit, subject to availability of funds made available for the Call and the specific needs of the Project.

The Grant may cover expenses such as:

» Technological development of the Asset.

» Consulting, feasibility, and market study services.

» Evaluation studies needed for regulatory approval.

» Hiring of personnel destined to the development of the Project.

» Management of intellectual property strategies. » Overhead expenses up to a maximum of 10% of the total budget.

» Travel or representation expenses.

Costs derived from concepts that are not directly related to the Project’s milestones or that do not directly contribute to the successful development of the Asset will not be accepted.

The Call will be permanently open, in case of interest contact with FSJD Research's Department.

More information

https://www.caixaimpulse.com/programme?program_id=2019_PROGRAMME&program_section=CALL