AescapInvesting in Medicine
Aescap Life Sciences is a biotech fund that invests in publicly traded biotech companies. It invests in high-growth, highly innovative companies that develop and market new medicines and, to a lesser extent, diagnostics and/or medical devices. Aescap Life Sciences has around 200 million euros under management and has an annualized net performance of over 16% over its five years of existence. Entry into and exit from this biotech fund is possible twice per month.
The biotech market is a large and fast-growing market. The substantial growth of the biotech market, also called life sciences market, is driven by an ageing population and an increased demand for ‘Western’ medicine in the emerging markets. After 30 years of development, groundbreaking technologies such as RNA, gene and cell therapies come to the market which often allow for more effective and safer medicines. These factors together are driving demand for improved and cost-effective medicine, diagnostics and medical devices. Since there are more than 1.000 public biotech companies, it is difficult to select those that will beat their competitors in the future. With over 30 years of experience investing in the life sciences market, Aescap Life Sciences enables investors to invest into the future winners of this industry. An investment in the fund will not only generate a good return on investment, it also supports the development of better treatments for diseases with a high unmet medical need such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Cancer, MS, Obesity, Parkinson’s and many others.
Performance
Our net performance, since inception on March 28th 2016, is +109%, representing an annualized net IRR of more than 16%, which is 52% above the return of the Nasdaq Biotech Index.
Get in touch
Our monthly presentation for existing and interested investors is currently replaced by a webcast. The next webcast will be held on July 7th at 15.00 cet.
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Strategy
Aescap Life Sciences has a focused portfolio, investing in around 18 public biotech / life science companies. Most of the companies in our portfolio are based in Europe and the US. Our investment decisions are based on ‘high conviction’, fueled by thorough research and fundamental analyses. In the biotech sector such an analysis especially encompasses product portfolio patent protection, product development risks, market entry barriers, competition and the expected market development. But equally important are the serious efforts we undertake to understand the strengths and weakness of a company’s management, team dynamics, and their view on the future of the company and the markets they serve.
Aescap Team
Patrick Krol, Portfolio Manager
Patrick joined Aescap at its start in 2005 when it was active as a biotech venture capital fund. Patrick has been a private investor in public equity for over 30 years. Building on his track record as a private investor in public biotech companies , outperforming the Nasdaq Biotech Index over 2,5x, he founded Aescap Life Sciences early 2016. As a co-founder of Firm United Healthcare he was responsible for growing the company into a market leader on the European continent and guided over 35 listed pharma and biotech companies to successfully introduce or grow their products.
Paolo del Bufalo, Analyst
Paolo Del Bufalo obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at La Sapienza University of Rome after which he completed two Master tracks at Leiden University, one in Chemical Biology Research and one in Science Based Business. Throughout his academic research career he focused on supramolecular chemistry and photochemistry for applications in medicinal chemistry. During his business studies, he acquired knowledge to combine his scientific background with the business environment, particularly with value investing. Paolo joined Aescap Life Sciences as an analyst in 2018.
Tristan Maguet, Analyst
Tristan Maguet holds a Pharm.D from the University of Grenoble Alpes and a MSc in Management from ESSEC Business School in Paris. During his pharmaceutical studies, Tristan specialized in the biotechnology industry and led a project where he went through all stages of development and registration for human growth hormone. Tristan developed his knowledge in the healthcare industry during his internships at Aescap Life Sciences as an analyst and at venture capital fund Andera Partners in their BioDiscovery franchise as a biotech and medtech analyst. Tristan joined Aescap Life Sciences as an analyst in 2019.
As per 1st of June 2021, Analyst
He holds a Pharm.D from a university in France, and finished his education with an advanced masters in corporate strategy from a top tier business school. After his internship at a biotech venture capital fund, he joined a biotech incubator in Paris from where he moved on to become chief of staff at a gene therapy company. We are very happy to welcome him starting June 1st, and believe he will contribute to the success of Aescap greatly.
Bo Jesper Hansen , Portfolio Advisor
Bo Jesper Hansen, M.D., Ph.D. resigned as the Executive Chairman of the Board of SOBI AB (Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB) in 2016. SOBI is a biotech company listed on the Swedish stock exchange and at the time had a market capitalization of around 3,5 billion euros. He is Chairman of Karolinska Development AB and is also non-executive Director of the biotech / pharma companies Ablynx NV, Orphazyme ApS, Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA, CMC AB and Genspera Inc. Dr Hansen served as CEO and President to the Board of Swedish Orphan International (1998-2010) until the merger with Biovitrum, forming Swedish Orphan Biovitrum.
Fred Oudshoorn, Portfolio Advisor
Fred Oudshoorn is the founder and managing director of Jonghoud BV, an investment firm in amongst others, equity of private and listed healthcare companies. As a pharmacist he built a chain of 40 pharmacies “De Vier Vijzels” which was later acquired by Alliance Unichem. He is also a founder of MediZorg, the former chairman of Sinensis Laboratoria and supervisory board member of Kadans and Kadans Science Partners. Mr Krol and Mr Oudshoorn first met in their function as supervisory board members back in 2012 and soon discovered their mutual activities in investing in public innovative medical companies.
Gert Hoogland, Portfolio Advisor
Gert Hoogland, M.D., MBA (INSEAD) is a pharmaceutical executive with deep operational experience. He began his career in 1982 as Medical Advisor to Organon NV in Oss, The Netherlands, followed by CEO positions for Schering AG in New Zealand and South Africa. He then founded Pharmaplan Pty Ltd in Johannesburg, which became the leading specialty pharma distributor in Africa representing biotech companies like Biogen, Bracco, Recordati, Ipsen, Genzyme and Shire. After the sale of this company to the Canadian Specialty Pharma company Paladin Inc., he relocated to Zurich to start HealthCrest AG, a healthcare investment and consulting company.
Patricia Allam, Head of Investor Relations
Patricia Allam joined Aescap Life Sciences in early 2021 after working in investor relations for over 8 years with Danske Bank and Tessin Nordic. During those years she worked together with a diverse set of investors globally, from institutional investors to family offices and HNW. Patricia has a broad outreach especially in the Nordics from her previous working experiences in Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Patricia has a MSc in Finance and Accounting and earned an MBA from IMD Business School in Lausanne.
Michiel de Haan, Fund Advisor
Michiel de Haan has been active in life sciences since 1987 when he spun-out Atlas Venture from the ING bank. Under his leadership Atlas developed into a European-American venture capital firm with offices in Amsterdam, Munich, Boston and London and invested in over 300 venture backed companies in Information Technology and Life Sciences. Michiel has been active on numerous boards of Life Science companies such as Crucell and Morphosys.
5-star rating
Morningstar has rated Aescap Life Sciences as a 5-star investment fund, the highest possible rating given. Morningstar’s rating has become the industry’s leading standard for determining a fund’s performance (risk/reward) relative to other funds. To rate a fund, Morningstar takes into account the long-term performance (3+ years) and only the top 10% best performing funds will receive a 5-star rating.
See Aescap on Morningstar
Latest News
Aescap Life Sciences Quarterly Update Q1 2021
Our portfolio companies delivered a series of value creating events, such as improved financials, approval of new products, profitable licensing deals and superior clinical study data. Despite these positive developments during Q1, our NAV ended the quarter at -3% due to stock markets being unfavorable for the biotech sector as a whole.
Aescap 2.0 becomes Aescap Life Sciences
After operating under the name Aescap 2.0 for almost 5 years, we feel our new name better represents our investment focus and the impact our companies have on the life of patients in need.
Aescap 2.0 Quarterly Update Q4 2020
Also for Aescap 2.0, 2020 was a roller coaster year. The fund was at an all-time high mid-February with a net performance of +5% for the year, after which it went down to -31% in mid-March, to then end the year at -3%.