- EQT Life Sciences announced it has held a final closing of its inaugural LSP Dementia Fund at about €260 million.
EQT Life Sciences announced that it has held the final close of its inaugural LSP Dementia Fund, raising about €260 million in fee-generating assets under management. And the firm met a hard cap and surpassed the target fund size of €100 million. This fund is dedicated to investing in companies that are working on breakthrough drug therapies and medical technologies across the spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases.
Dementia is known as the greatest health challenge of our time: there are about 55 million patients with the disease worldwide according to the World Health Organization. Investments in dementia research and development are substantially lower compared to other major healthcare challenges like cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease. So the LSP Dementia Fund has been created to help bridge this gap by advancing breakthrough dementia innovation to bring new drugs to patients, while simultaneously seeking to generate strong financial returns for its investors.
The LSP Dementia Fund investment team is led by Philip Scheltens, MD, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Amsterdam University Medical Center, and one of the most renowned dementia researchers, having (co)authored over 1,100 scientific publications. And the other partners in the investment team are Felice Verduyn-van Weegen, MBA, Cillian King, Ph.D., and Arno de Wilde, MD, Ph.D., MBA. Plus the team is supported by the expertise and network of EQT Life Sciences, which has more than 30 years of investing experience and closed its flagship LSP 7 fund at over €1 billion in fee-generating assets under management in 2022. And it will also become an integral part of EQT’s Healthcare sector platform, further strengthening EQT’s global expertise in the sector and ability to support companies from venture-stage to mature, market leaders.
This Fund is supported by a broad range of investors including the Alzheimer’s Association (the world’s largest charity and advocacy organization in the field), insurance companies, the European Investment Fund, and several global pharmaceutical companies – including from Asia and the US – which underlines the industry’s interest in European life sciences venture opportunities. Plus other investors include endowments, foundations, and other private wealth investors.
This Fund plans to invest in 10 to 15 companies in total. Nd having made its first investment in NewAmsterdam Pharma, which focuses on cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, in January 2021, the fund has since invested in 4 companies: Muna Therapeutics (Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease), AviadoBio (Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)), Nobi (smart care solutions in nursing homes) and QurAlis (FTD and ALS).
KEY QUOTES:
“The final close marks the end of a very successful fundraising journey in which we have experienced strong interest and commitment. This gives us the confidence to invest in groundbreaking science and entrepreneurship, which this field so urgently needs. I am very proud to be leading such an experienced team of neuroscientists and investors and being part of an organization with such a high standing in the field of life sciences.”
— Prof. Philip Scheltens, Partner and Head of the LSP Dementia Fund
“EQT Life Sciences aims to improve patient’s lives by supporting the development of breakthrough therapies. We strongly believe that neurodegenerative diseases are the next big challenge after oncology and cardiovascular diseases. With this fund, EQT Life Sciences is now in a strong position to support companies at the cutting-edge of battling this disease.”
— Dr. René Kuijten MD, PhD, MBA, Partner and Head of EQT Life Sciences
“EQT is already one of the world’s most active and leading healthcare investors and the close of this fund further strengthens this position. From the earliest stages all the way through to global market leaders, EQT has the experience, expertise, and firepower to support companies in every phase of their development.”
— Michael Bauer, Partner and Co-Head of EQT’s Global Healthcare sector team
