- The Basque Government Health Advisor, Jon Darpón, resigned in March of this year following the irregularities detected in the Osakidetza oppositions. It then went to the private company. Now, the Basque Parliament has referred to the public money that the company that "signed" and those around it have received from their relatives.
Former Health Advisor Jon Darpón left the Basque Government for irregularities in Osakidetza's job offer and was subsequently "dumped" by a private company. The company is called Keralty and in the Basque Parliament there is talk of the 350,308.26 euros that the company has received in public aid since 2016.
Keralty – formerly Sanitas Internacional – and other companies directly or indirectly related to it – Biokeralty/Biopraxis, Praxis, Biopharma Praxis or Mizar – have obtained public funding as a contract or, above all, as an aid. In total, there are 98,941 euros from the Department of Health and 2,014,502.75 euros from grants from the Department of Economic Development for the development of R&D projects mainly in health. This is the official information which the Basque Government has sent to Parliament at the request of Josu Estarrona de EH Bildu and which it has published ElDiario.es.
In March of this year, Darpon made sure that he would cease to be the head of Basque public health and took the step of entering Keralty. It was signed in less than two months by the international private insurer based in Arkaute, on the outskirts of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Darpón is now the director of Eurasia of the Keralty Group, and is also responsible for the country’s operations. Joseba Grajales, who according to the Forbes list is the 64 richest person in the state, is in the position of President and Jon Azua, former Health Advisor and former Vice-President, also occupies the leading position. The Grajales family also controls other companies in the sector such as Biokeralty – old Biopraxia –, Praxis, Biopharma Praxis or Mizar, which is dedicated to 3D printing with medical applications. The New Health Foundation is also listed as a link, but no data has been sent to Parliament.
According to information submitted by the Government to the Basque Parliament, Keralty has received grants of EUR 350,308.26 since 2016. Aid is not for health, but for economic development and, in particular, for the promotion of innovation, such as the Hazitek programme. Supported initiatives include the application of technology to treatments or the development of a blockchain clinical record management system.
Keralty has not been awarded in the area that led Darpon between 2013 and 2019, but Biokeralty has had to wait. The managers of this second company and its registered office are identical to that of Keralty. In 2018, the Basque Department of Health contributed a total of 46,641 euros to investigate the application of data analysis in cancer patients. Since Economic Development, Biokeralty/Biopraxis has received another 378,713.98 euros. It is also stated that this society donated 4,000 euros to the Fundación Pública Bioef to participate in one of the initiatives carried out as a sponsor.
Praxis, based in the Miñano Technological Park, has received 46,500 euros from the Department of Health and 930,612.66 from the Department of Economic Development. A total of 180,419.79 euros were added to these grants awarded by Praxis Biopharma.
Lastly, Mizar Health obtained 5,800 euros from a minor contract from the Department of Health and 174,448.06 euros from R&D grants. Mizar is a partner of Keralty. Darpón, in his capacity as advisor, expressed the following opinion: "The creation of synergies of collaboration between companies and the health system in research and innovation in the field of health is fundamental to move towards greater wealth and socio-economic development and, in addition, to achieve better health outcomes for Basque citizens," the government said on its website.