Louise Kooij

About Louise Kooij

Louise Kooij is Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of NewAmsterdam Pharma (NAMS). She joined as CFO in May 2020, became CAO in January 2023, served as Interim CFO in March 2023, and was appointed CAO again in October 2023. She previously spent 18 years in finance roles at Genzyme Europe B.V. and seven years as a certified auditor at PwC and other audit firms. She holds a master’s degree from Nyenrode Business University and an auditing degree from Hogeschool Markus Verbeek. Age: 49 (as of April 15, 2025) .
Company performance context: NAMS’ $100 TSR index rose to 235.78 in 2024 (from 102.48 in 2023), while net income was a loss of $242M in 2024 (vs. a $177M loss in 2023) .

Past Roles

External Roles

Equity Ownership & Alignment

• Executive status: Listed as an executive officer (Chief Accounting Officer) .
• Beneficial ownership: The 2025 proxy provides a comprehensive beneficial ownership table but does not list Ms. Kooij individually; to the company’s knowledge, no shares beneficially owned by any executive officer, director, or director nominee are pledged as collateral .
• Hedging/pledging: Company policy prohibits officers and directors from hedging or pledging company securities; anti-hedging and anti-pledging policies are explicitly stated .
• Clawback: Incentive Compensation Recoupment Policy applies to current and former executive officers (including the CAO) for restatements tied to financial reporting noncompliance .

Employment Terms

• Contract disclosure: The proxy discloses employment agreements (with severance and double-trigger change-of-control treatment) for the CEO, CFO, CSO, COO, and CBO. No employment agreement for Ms. Kooij is described in this section of the 2025 proxy .
• Company practice for NEOs (reference framework for senior officers):
  • Severance: 12 months base salary, earned/unpaid bonus plus pro‑rata bonus upon termination without cause/good reason; COBRA premium reimbursement for U.S.-based executives .
  • Change-in-control: Double-trigger equity acceleration (CIC plus qualifying termination); exercise period extension for certain vested options .
  • No excise tax gross-ups; no material perquisites .
• Insider compliance: The company reported Section 16(a) compliance for executive officers and directors in 2023, with noted exceptions unrelated to Ms. Kooij (Davidson/Lange filing corrections), supporting overall governance hygiene .

Compensation Structure (Company Framework; individual CAO details not disclosed)

• Program design: Base salary, annual performance-based cash bonus, and long-term equity (primarily stock options) are the core elements for executives; governance includes independent consultant (Aon), peer benchmarking, and strong pay-for-performance orientation .
• Long-term incentives: Options generally have 10-year terms with time-based vesting (25% at 1-year cliff; monthly over 36 months thereafter) aligning management with shareholder value creation .
• Anti-timing policy: Company states it does not time equity grants around MNPI, and describes grant timing around year-start cycles for NEOs .

Performance & Track Record (Company context during her finance leadership tenure)

Key operational and financing milestones:

• Capital raises: Upsized public offerings in February 2024 ($190.0M net) and December 2024 ($453.4M net), broadening investor base and extending runway .
• Clinical progress: Positive topline results across multiple Phase 3 programs (BROOKLYN, TANDEM, BROADWAY) and large-scale outcomes enrollment, underpinning prospective regulatory filings .
• IP strength: USPTO patent on amorphous obicetrapib hemicalcium (potential Orange Book listing), protection until July 2043 .

Compensation & Incentives – What We Can Infer About Signals for CAO Role

• Alignment signals:
  • Structural: Use of options with multi-year vesting, anti-hedging/pledging policy, and an SEC/Nasdaq-compliant clawback collectively promote long-term alignment and reduce hedging/pledging-related misalignment risk .
  • Ownership risk flags: Company reports no pledged shares by executive officers/directors; beneficial ownership for Ms. Kooij is not itemized in the table, limiting visibility into her “skin in the game” .
• Retention economics: No individual CAO severance/CIC disclosure; NEO agreements feature 12 months’ severance and double-trigger equity acceleration, a typical biotech retention construct. Absence of explicit CAO terms in the proxy introduces some uncertainty on her specific protections .

Risk Indicators & Red Flags

• Positive governance features: No tax gross-ups, no share option repricing without shareholder approval, no material perquisites; anti-hedging/pledging and clawback policies are in force .
• Disclosure gap: Lack of individual CAO compensation and ownership line items reduces analytical precision on pay-for-performance linkage and ownership alignment for Ms. Kooij specifically .

Investment Implications

• Alignment: Structural safeguards (clawback, anti-hedging/pledging, time-based option vesting) support long-term alignment; however, the absence of individually disclosed CAO equity/compensation details limits assessment of her direct incentive intensity and near-term selling pressure risk .
• Retention: If her terms mirror NEO constructs, double-trigger CIC acceleration and one-year cash severance would be retention-supportive in strategic scenarios; the proxy does not explicitly confirm those terms for the CAO, a modest retention uncertainty .
• Execution context: During Ms. Kooij’s finance leadership tenure, NAMS advanced multiple Phase 3 programs, strengthened IP, and executed significant equity financings—key value creation levers ahead of regulatory milestones; continued discipline in financing and controls is critical given ongoing net losses typical of pre-commercial biopharma .