CNIO includes director's partner-linked foundation in €2.4m program

CNIO includes animal welfare foundation linked to director's partner in €2.4m program

The National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, included the Franz Weber Foundation, an animal rights organization advocating for restrictions on animal testing, in a program attributed €2.4 million. Ruth Toledano, partner of centre director María Blasco, regularly collaborates with this foundation. The collaboration agreement, signed in July 2021, does not specify the amount received by the foundation nor its obligations, according to published information.

This news comes at a delicate time for Blasco, who is under scrutiny for the alleged diversion of two million euros to purchase paintings and sculptures while doctors demand more funding for cancer research. The CNIO board has decided not to approve next year's accounts and demands a thorough explanation from its director regarding the centre's economic and labour situation.

An agreement without figures or obligations

The deal with the Franz Weber Foundation was presented as "pioneering" among Spanish research centres and one of the first collaborations of this kind worldwide. However, the agreement text does not detail the amount the entity will receive or the counterparties. The figure of €2.4 million appears in CNIO's annual accounts as the total amount of the collaborators' program to which the foundation was added.

At the announcement event, held on July 15, 2021, at the Ministry of Science headquarters, Blasco herself, her partner Ruth Toledano, then Secretary General for Research and President of the Board, Rafael Rodrigo, and Franz Weber Foundation Director Leonardo Anselmi were present. The ministry, led by Diana Sarracena, justified the collaboration as a step towards "promoting the use of methods alternative to animals in research."

Extra salaries, artworks, and two houses bought in cash

The irregularities surrounding Blasco's management of the CNIO, which she has directed for over a decade, are not limited to the agreement with the animal welfare foundation. According to published reports, the director allegedly received extra salaries alongside her annual salary of €230,000, while centre unions denounce the neglect of facilities where researchers work.

The diversion of two million euros to acquire artworks included an event sponsored by Begoña Gómez, vvife of the Prime Minister. Blasco maintains that the centre's situation is due to the small budget it receives each year. A large group of scientists from the CNIO itself disagrees: in a letter they point out "a lack of institutional vision" that has led to the deterioration of key infrastructures and the inability to secure competitive funding in national and international calls.

Two homes in Galicia purchased on the same day

Blasco and Toledano acquired two houses in cash on July 10, 2023, in the municipality of Carnota, A Coruña. The first, in the parish of Sofán, has two floors and 443 square meters. The second, in Caldebarcos, has 211 square meters, plus an adjacent plot of 268 square meters with an orchard, two granaries, a patio, and several garage spaces. Toledano is listed as 50% co-owner of both properties.

The CNIO Board has agreed not to approve next year's accounts and demands that Blasco detail "the current situation of the centre, both economic and labour, as well as the reasons and decisions taken." The body's leadership has thus expressed itself against its own director, demanding explanations before giving the green light to the accounts.

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The scandal has reignited the debate on the use of public money in foundations and bodies dependent on the Administration. Some argue these entities have become structures to place allies with high salaries and little control; conversely, there is the argument that oncological research requires stable funding and that budget cuts explain part of the deterioration. What admits no discussion is the data: €2.4 million committed in a program whose obligations are not documented in writing. The board still has not approved the accounts, and the outcome of this story, as of this discussion, remains far from written.