Vital Planet Reimbursement of Indirect Costs Policy for Clinical Trials

Vital Planet defines indirect costs as:

• Overhead expenses or ongoing operational costs incurred by the applicant organization on behalf of the organization’s activities and projects, but that are not easily identified with any specific project.
• Administrative or other expenses which are not directly allocable to a particular activity or project.
• Expenses related to general operations of an organization that are shared among projects and/or functions.
• Basic examples include executive oversight, existing facilities costs, accounting, grants management, legal expenses, utilities, and technology support.

Overview:
Vital Planet is committed to conducting clinical trials and to support where possible the coverage of direct costs associated with conducting a clinical trial. Vital Planet is committed to sharing the indirect costs of clinical trials involving Universities or other entities. We recognize that this means that: (a) some grantees may need to engage in cost‐sharing between projects, tap into unrestricted funds, or conduct other fundraising to cover operations; or (b) some contractors may choose not to contract with our organization. However, we believe our policy is consistent with that of many companies, private foundations and certain government entities that have a flat or maximum rate that caps the amount an applicant institution can charge.

Maximum Indirect Cost Rates
Indirect cost rates for clinical trials are subject to the following limitations:

Up to a 10% rate
U.S. universities, U.S. community colleges

Up to a 15% rate
Non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), International organizations, Non‐U.S. universities

• Indirect Costs Reimbursements = Rate % * Total Project Costs (incl. personnel, sub‐contracts, supplies, equipment, etc.)
• Rates and limitations apply to both the primary applicant organization and any sub‐grantees and sub‐ contractors. Each respective organization may receive indirect costs up to the rate applicable to their organization type.

Example: If a U.S. university is the primary grantee and includes an international organization as a sub‐grantee, the U.S. university can receive up to a 10% rate, while the international organization can receive up to a 15% rate for indirect costs.

The rates provided above are the maximum rates allowed under the Vital Planet’s policy. A grantee with an actual indirect cost rate lower than the maximum rate provided above should not increase the funding request to the maximum allowed.