Wednesday, 23 September 2026
HELIX alpha is expanding its European life science real estate business with the launch of an advisory division and two senior management appointments. Patrick Schlump will join the company as Managing Partner from 1 October 2026, while Dr. Thomas Diefenthal will move from the firm’s Advisory Board into an operational position as Director Advisory.
Schlump will concentrate on investment and fund management as well as relationships with institutional investors. He most recently worked for French investment manager Praemia REIM, where his activities included healthcare property. His previous career includes positions at Union Investment, Bouwfonds Investment Management, Swiss Life Asset Managers and its German subsidiary Corpus Sireo.
Schlump has worked with HELIX alpha founder and CEO Martin Eberhardt since 2009 at several of those organisations. Their earlier work included developing investment products for institutional capital, including European strategies covering student accommodation and car parks. HELIX alpha intends to draw on that experience as it develops investment products for the more specialised life science property sector.
Investment management will remain the company’s principal business, while the new advisory operation will provide services to external clients using the same sector expertise. The target client base includes life science companies, property owners and investors as well as public and private organisations involved in research clusters and innovation districts. Assignments are expected to cover corporate property requirements, property issues arising from mergers and acquisitions, investment and ownership strategies, and the development of life science ecosystems.
Diefenthal will play a central role in building the advisory operation after spending more than two decades developing BioPark Regensburg. A biotechnologist with a doctorate, he has experience spanning the development and operation of life science property as well as the creation of research and innovation clusters. He will also become a member of HELIX alpha’s Investment & Risk Committee, bringing the requirements of scientific occupiers and operators into the company’s investment assessment process.
The expansion reflects HELIX alpha’s strategy of approaching specialised property from both the investor and occupier perspectives. Laboratory, research and production facilities can have significantly different technical and operational requirements from conventional commercial buildings, making knowledge of the activities taking place inside the properties an important part of assessing their longer-term investment potential.
According to HELIX alpha, the decision to introduce advisory services was accelerated by enquiries received from the market before the company had formally begun promoting such services. Rather than moving into an unrelated business area, the company is using the new division to extend its existing expertise across the relationship between life science occupiers, property and institutional capital.
With Schlump strengthening the investment side and Diefenthal adding scientific, development and operational experience, HELIX alpha is broadening the structure of its European platform. The company is positioning itself to work across both investment management and advisory assignments as life science real estate continues to develop as a distinct segment of Europe’s specialised property market.
