LSP Announces $280 Million Final Closing of Life Sciences Venture Fund

AMSTERDAM, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

LSP (Life Sciences Partners), the European life sciences investment group, today announced the final closing of its new life sciences fund, LSP 5. The fund surpassed its $170 million target and reached the 'hard cap' of $280 million, making LSP 5 one of the largest life sciences funds in Europe.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr René Kuijten, Managing Partner at LSP, said: "The basis of this fundraising success is reflective of our strong financial performance as well as meeting the challenges of life sciences investing. This has been recognized by not only large and loyal institutional investors, but also by strategic partners like the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, who selected LSP as a partner for identifying and investing in European breakthrough technologies. Moreover, the interest from family offices and private investors looking for broad exposure to life sciences in Europe has increased significantly over the years."

The fund has already started to invest, taking positions in 9 companies. Examples include Irish medical device company Neuravi, active in acute ischemic stroke, Swiss-based immuno-oncology company Nouscom, and Kuros Biosciences, recently listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange and focused on tissue repair and regeneration. The fund, primarily focused on Europe, will look to invest in around 20 companies across the areas of drug development, medical devices and diagnostics. LSP has helped several well-known life sciences companies to grow and prosper, including Dutch companies Crucell, Merus, Prosensa, Sapiens; Belgian companies argenx, Movetis; German companies Activaero, Jerini, U3 Pharma; Swiss company Okairos and Danish company Zealand Pharma.

Dr Kuijten added: "The healthcare sector is developing favorably and European science is reaching new heights. There are a lot of opportunities for investment in the sector and we will continue to explore these avenues as we have done in the past."

About LSP 

LSP (Life Sciences Partners) is an independent European investment firm, providing financing for private and public life sciences companies. LSP's mission is to connect investors to inventors, focusing on unmet medical needs. Since the late 1980s, LSP's management has invested in about 100 innovative enterprises, many of which have grown to become leaders of the global life sciences industry. With over $1.2 billion of investment capital raised to date and offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston, LSP is one of Europe's leading life sciences investors. LSP also invests in public companies through its Euronext-listed LSP Life Sciences Fund (Bloomberg: LSP NA).

About LSP 5 

Launched in 2014, LSP 5 targets investment opportunities in healthcare companies developing pioneering products and technologies that provide solutions to unmet medical needs, similar to its predecessor funds. The fund will invest in around 20 companies across the areas of drug development, medical devices and diagnostics. LSP partners René Kuijten, Joachim Rothe, Martijn Kleijwegt, Joerg Neermann, John de Koning and Fouad Azzam have worked together for a decade and combine entrepreneurial and financial skills with a strong background in biosciences and medicine.

For more information, please visit lspvc.com.

Contacts:
Dr René R. Kuijten
Managing Partner LSP
Contact: sdwinger@lspvc.com 

Hume Brophy
Supriya Mathur, Hollie Vile
Phone: +44 (0) 207 862 6475
E-mail: lsp@humebrophy.com