Merijn Klaassen

Merijn Klaassen is Partner, CFO and COO of EQT Life Sciences, one of Europe's largest and longest-established dedicated life-sciences investment firms (formerly known as LSP, or Life Sciences Partners). He joined LSP in early 2008 as Chief Financial Officer and was made a Partner of the firm in 2017. In his role he is responsible for all financial and administrative affairs connected with the investments and divestments of the portfolio companies, as well as all fund-related matters — a finance and operations mandate rather than a deal-sourcing or company-facing investment role.

Before joining LSP, Klaassen was Finance Manager for Amgen Europe at the biotechnology company Amgen. Prior to that he spent about seven years at Philips Electronics in a range of senior finance roles, including work supporting the sale of Philips Semiconductors (now NXP) to a consortium of private-equity firms — experience that spans both corporate finance and complex transactions.

He holds a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Tilburg and a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering & Management Science from the University of Twente. He is a chartered controller (Register Controller, "RC") in the Netherlands, and additionally holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation and the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certification from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).

In 2022, EQT (the global investment group) acquired LSP and rebranded it as EQT Life Sciences; Klaassen has continued in the senior CFO/COO capacity through and after that integration, overseeing the finance and operations of a platform that has raised roughly €3.5 billion across around a dozen funds and three investment strategies over a ~30-year track record.

• This individual's remit is finance and operations, not deal-making. Klaassen runs the CFO/COO function — fund administration, financial affairs of portfolio investments and divestments, and fund structuring — rather than sourcing or leading deals. Founders seeking capital should target EQT Life Sciences' investment partners.
• Firm-level focus: development of therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and healthtech, globally.
• Stage: early-to-late-stage life sciences; flagship LSP funds invest across the spectrum, with growth-stage capital arriving when a clinical or commercial program needs funding to reach a regulatory or commercial inflection.
• Check size: roughly €10M–€60M, with initial commitments frequently above USD 25M and meaningful reserves held for follow-on rounds.
• Strategies: distinct biotech (drug development at all stages), later-stage MedTech/Digital Health/Diagnostics, and thematic vehicles such as the LSP Dementia Fund.
• Geography: primarily European companies, with selective exposure to the US.