1. Introduction
These terms and conditions (the "T&Cs") are intended to govern the operation of the Martín Villar Haemostasis Awards (the "MV Awards") organized by Grifols, S.A., a company duly incorporated under Spanish law, with Tax ID number A-58389123 and with registered offices at calle Jesús y María 6, 08022 Barcelona – Spain ("Grifols").
MV Awards aim to identify, promote and support the realization of innovative clinical and scientific work that offers a greater insight into hemostasis and blood coagulation disorders (haemophilia and von Willebrand disease).
These T&Cs are available for consultation on www.martinvillar-awards.com (the "Website").
2. Participants
Participation in the MV Awards is voluntary and free of charge.
The Participants in the MV Awards may present their proposal individually or as a part of a team. Both individual participants and team participants will be jointly referred to as the "Participants".
Participants shall meet the following eligibility requirements:
- present an original research contribution to basic or clinical research in Haemophilia and Von Willebrand Disease that fulfills the project objectives set forth in Section 4.1.
- be a scientist or clinician conducting research at hospitals, university or independent institutions and, in case of primary applicant, be under the age of 40 at the time of submitting the Letter of Intent (the "LoI") and its CV;
- be employed or supported by a hospital, university or independent institution (the "Institution"), and
- sign a contract with the Institution and Grifols (the "Contract") if he/she becomes a selected Awardee (as such term is defined below).
None of Grifols' and/or its group companies' employees or any relative up to the second degree of kinship of the persons directly involved in the management of Grifols' scientific awards or in the awardee selection process shall be eligible to participate in the MV Awards.
Unless expressly stated in these T&Cs, in no case shall Grifols bear any costs and/or expenses in which the Participants may incur by reason of their participation in the MV Awards.
Submissions from Awardees of two previous editions of MV Awards will not be accepted.
3. Period of participation and timeline
The period of participation for the MV Awards will be defined in the MV Awards Timeline.
(a) Submission of the Application Form: within the term indicated in the MV Awards Timeline.
(b) The date and any information of the MV Awards ceremony will be communicated to related parties as soon as the information is available (the "Awards Ceremony").
4. Award details
Applicants (either individual Participants or the Participant in a team designated to present the proposal) should complete the Application Form and submit it, together with the LoI and any required documentation, including a short curriculum vitae of all Participants and a summary protocol of the Research Project (as such term is defined below), during the term set out in Section 3.
Once the period to submit the Application Form ends, an independent jury formed by a panel of scientists, whose identity details are published on the Website (the "Jury"), shall select a maximum of six (6) proposals submitted Research Projects that best match the requirements described in Section 4.1, taking into consideration the appraisal criteria described in Section 4.2.
The Participants shortlisted by the Jury will be invited to submit a full proposal of the Research Project, following the requirements set forth in Section 4.1.
The (1) Participant whose Research Project ((submitted either as clinical research project or as basic research project) is awarded (the "Awardee ") will be announced on the Website with its name, last name, job position, designation of workplace, and together with a brief description of the Research Project.
The Awardee is required to attend the Award Ceremony, whether virtually or in-situ as appropriate, in order to be awarded. In case it is required the Awardee to attend the Award Ceremony in-situ, any costs and/or expenses associated with the attendance of the Awardee to the Award Ceremony will be borne by Grifols or, if these have been already paid by the Awardee or the Awardee's Institution, the Awardee or the Awardee's Institution shall be reimbursed by Grifols upon Grifols being provided with evidence of such costs and/or expenses incurred and subject, in any event, to any applicable local laws and regulations.
Participants shall provide all information requested in the course of the selection process in English using the form or documents provided by Grifols, when they are made available.
4.1 Requirements of the Research Projects
Participants must present an innovative basic or clinical research project regarding Haemophilia and Von Willerbrand Disease, which meet the following requirements (the "Research Project"):
(a) Goals should be achieved within a maximum of twelve (12) months from the date of the first payment agreed in the Contract, in case the Participant becomes selected as an Awardee.
(b) The Research Projects should be related to the pathology or the management of the disease with plasma-derived FVIII/VFW protein therapies, in general, not associated with one particular commercial product;
(c) Studies sponsored by the industry are excluded.
(d) Basic research projects may include preclinical animal studies and in vitro studies;
(e) Clinical research projects may include any studies requiring patient informed consent, including treatment of patients and/or use of patient samples (e.g. for biomarker analysis, genotyping and diagnostics);
(f) In no case, submitted Research Projects shall include any information or data which allows, directly or indirectly, the identification of patients and/or any other individuals who are not members of the Participant's team and/or the Institution;
The Awardee agrees to provide Grifols with an interim study report after half-time of the Research Project and a full report after completion of the Research Project (the "Final Report").
4.2 Appraisal criteria
The Research Projects will be assessed by the Jury taking into account the following criteria:
(a) Scientific merit, which will take into account (i) the validity of the rationale and/or proposed methodology, (ii) the validity of the expected outcomes, (iii) the validity of the proposed timelines, and (iv) the feasibility of completing the proposed research within a maximum term of twelve (12) months from the date of the first payment agreed in the Contract, in case the Participant becomes selected as an Awardee;
(b) Innovation of the Research Project in design, methodology and objectives;
(c) Clinical/medical impact, which will take into account (i) the contribution of the Research Project results to clinical and scientific understanding, and (ii) the relevance of the Research Project to the Haemophilia and Von Willebrand Disease community.
(d) Mentor and research environment, which will take into account (i) mentor's research focus, clinical/scientific expertise and experience, (ii) qualification of the Participants, and (iii) expertise in the academic research environment.
5. Prize
The selected Research Project ((submitted either as clinical research project or as basic research project) will be awarded with an amount of Euros 50,000 (the "Award"). The payment of the Award will be made by Grifols to the Awardee's Institution with the following payment schedule and subject, if applicable, to holding a certificate of residents for non-Spanish residents:
- Twenty-five thousand Euros (€25,000) (gross amount) within sixty (60) days of receipt of the corresponding invoice issued by the Institution.
- Twenty-five thousand Euros (€25,000) (gross amount) within sixty (60) days of receipt by Grifols of the final report, together with the corresponding invoice issued by the Institution.The Awardee acknowledges that Grifols will not transfer any payment of the Award directly to him/her.
The Institution shall use the Award only for the performance of the Research Project by the Awardee and shall not apply any indirect cost to the Award (i.e. management or administration costs).
6. Confidential Information
All documents and/or information submitted by Participants and/or the Institutions to Grifols related to the Research Project shall be considered confidential information (“Confidential Information”) and shall only be used by Grifols for the sole purposes of assessing Participants' candidacy in the MV Award.
The obligations of this Clause 6 shall be valid during a term of five (5) years after the delivery of the Confidential Information.
7. Representations and Warranties. Intellectual and Industrial Property
The Participants represent and warrant that (a) they are the scientists or clinician responsible for the submitted Research Project, (b) any submitted documents and/or information provided are accurate and updated, (c) the Research Project is an original creation, (d) they have obtained all necessary approvals from the Institution to participate in the MV Awards and their participation do not violate any duty owed to the Institution or any other third party, (e) if applicable, they will obtain the informed consent of the patients in accordance with applicable law, (f) the Research Project complies with all applicable health regulations, and (g) their participation in the MV Awards and the exercise by Grifols of the rights licensed herein do not infringe any legal provisions, agreements, rights or assets owned by any third party.
The Institution will be the exclusive owner of the economic rights of intellectual and industrial property over the Research Project. By participating in the MV Awards, Grifols is granted a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable (except to Grifols' group companies) royalty free license to use any and all results derived, directly or indirectly, from the Research Project for Grifols' internal research and development purposes. The Awardee shall present any information, data and/or results derived from the Research Project only with the prior written consent of Grifols, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
For the avoidance of any doubt, the Institution shall fully keep the ownership or control over all documents, materials and information (whether or not protected by intellectual and industrial property rights) submitted to participate in the MV Awards.
8. Data Protection
Any personal data provided by the Participants will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Notice.
9. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction
These T&Cs are governed by Spanish law.
If any disputes arise from the interpretation and/or execution of the provisions regulated in these T&Cs, the parties will try to resolve these disputes amicably. If the dispute, controversy or difference cannot be amicably resolved, the parties shall submit the dispute, controversy or difference exclusively to the courts of the city of Barcelona, Spain.
10. General
Participation in the MV Awards implies full and complete acceptance of these T&Cs by each Participant. Any statement to the contrary such as not agreeing to the T&Cs, will result in the exclusion of the Participant and, as a result, Grifols will be released from fulfilling any obligations with respect to said Participants.
It is hereby acknowledged that the Award granted is not conditioned upon any promotion, prescription and/or use of any products commercialized by Grifols nor it is intended to influence the Awardee and the Institution to do so.
Grifols reserves the right to cancel the MV Awards at any time on grounds of force majeure, lack of participation or for any other valid reason.
Grifols reserves the right to disqualify any Participant who infringes any of the provisions regulated in these T&Cs and/or any applicable regulation.
Grifols reserves the right to modify these T&Cs in case any irregularity is detected that might influence the objectivity and transparency of the MV Awards.
Date of creation: May 2018
First update: 15 February 2019
Second update: 4 July 2019
Third update: June 26th 2020
Forth update: September 2021