Management

The founders of the company, Dr Mariola Soehngen (CMO) and Dr Wolfgang Soehngen (CEO), are medical doctors and have worked in various functions in the pharmaceutical industry for many years. Bernhard Hofer, CFO of PAION's, has a strong banking background and has been managing PAION's finances since 2001.

Dr Wolfgang Söhngen
Chief Excecutive Officer, Founder
Managing Director PAION Deutschland GmbH

Dr Wolfgang Söhngen, Chief Executive Officer, is chairman of PAION’s Management Board and co-founder of both PAION AG and PAION Deutschland GmbH. He is responsible for the areas of investor relations, business development and strategic planning. Dr Söhngen initially worked as pharmaceutical representative for Pfizer Pharma GmbH. He received a PhD degree in 1985, after having graduated from the RWTH Aachen Medical School in 1984. After two years as an intern in internal medicine at a teaching hospital he took on a post-doc position in cardiovascular pharmacology (1986–1987) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA). After his return to Germany he was employed by Grünenthal GmbH, a globally operating pharmaceuticals company based in Aachen (Germany), where his tasks included clinical development, project management, corporate development and strategic planning. In 1996 he received a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine (DGP harMed) in recognition for his broad and hands-on experience in drug development. In 1997 he founded his own consulting firm Virtueality which specialised in healthcare and clinical development. Due to an increasing demand in coaching and in preparation for the next business ideas (Bootcamp and PAION ) he obtained a Master of Business Communication in 1999. Together with his wife, Dr Mariola Söhngen, he founded PAION in 2000, which was based on a licencing agreement for two biologics with Schering AG, a major client of Virtueality. He serves as a Managing Director of PAION Deutschland GmbH until today and became CEO of PAION AG in 2004.

Bernhard Hofer
Chief Financial Officer
Managing Director PAION Deutschland GmbH
Managing Director of UK subsidiary companies

Bernhard Hofer is PAION’s Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for finance, controlling, legal, human resources and IT. Following completion of his vocational bank training (1982), he passed the bank officer’s exam (Bankfachwirt) (1986). Bernhard Hofer has more than 20 years of experience in banking and accounting at various banks, including Deutsche Bank AG, Commerzbank AG, and IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, where his duties focused on corporate client relationship management and corporate financing, including risk assessment and management, investment and corporate planning, monitoring of critical and non-performing loans, as well as special and project financing, such as the refinancing of venture capital funds. At Commerzbank AG and IKB Deutsche Industriebank, he held the positions of Vice President and Deputy Regional President. In 2001 Bernhard Hofer joined PAION Deutschland GmbH as Head of Finance. He has been a member of PAION AG’s Management Board since September 2004.

Dr Mariola Söhngen
Chief Medical Officer, Founder
Managing Director PAION Deutschland GmbH
Managing Director of UK subsidiary companies

Dr Mariola Söhngen is a co-founder of both PAION AG and PAION Deutschland GmbH. As a member of PAION’s Management Board and Chief Medical Officer, she is responsible for clinical drug development Phase I-IV, regulatory, drug safety and quality assurance. Following her medical degree in 1987, Dr Söhngen obtained both a PhD in medicine (1988), a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine (DGP harMed) (1996) and Master of Business Communication (1999). Before assuming directorial responsibility for PAION’s drug development, she worked for globally operating pharmaceutical companies (Grünenthal GmbH and Trommsdorf GmbH & Co. KG Arzneimittel, a subsidiary of Ferrer Internacional S.A.), where she was responsible for project coordination, licencing, strategic project evaluation and interfacing with marketing, in addition to the clinical development of numerous products. In 1998 she founded her own company, Bootcamp, which prepared entrants in the job market for professions in the healthcare industry. Together with her husband, Dr Wolfgang Söhngen, she founded PAION in 2000, which was based on a licencing agreement for two biologics with Schering AG. She serves as a Managing Director of PAION Deutschland GmbH until today and became CMO of PAION AG in 2004.