Photo: felixfoto, BIO-Europe 2024
Christian Soschner
For 26 years my work has been company building, and since 2006 the focus has been life-science and deep-tech companies from Series A to the public markets. My seat has been CBO, CFO or advisory board member in more than seven drug-development and med-tech companies, alongside mentoring in an accelerator programme.
Training in economics, finance and communication came first; systemic business coaching at the European Systemic Business Academy in Vienna came later, and it is the method behind Your Next Move.
Based in Vienna. Working in English and German, with clients across Europe and the United States.
Track record
My seat has been CBO, CFO or advisory board member, part of the leadership team and responsible with the team for the capital and development strategy.
Nabriva Therapeutics
Rodger Novak, who later co-founded CRISPR Therapeutics, led this Novartis spin-out. Part of the team that prepared the 2008 IPO, which the financial crisis postponed. The company later listed on NASDAQ.
Themis Bioscience
On the board from the investor side for the Series A due diligence, then CFO, building the structures and the story for the Series B with the team. MSD later acquired the company.
Yaqrit
UCL spin-out for patients with chronic liver disease. CBO and advisory board member through the Series B, with partnership work across IOCB Prague, Evotec and UCL. The company is now in phase 2.
OncoOne
Takeda spin-off. Led the strategy with the team to in-license a STING oncology asset from IOCB Prague.
Savira
Helped structure the spin-out from Onepharm around an EMBL programme into a licence deal with Roche, which Roche later converted into an acquisition.
PDC Biotech
Relocation from Canada to Europe, a Series A, a phase 2 programme and a merger with a Swiss public company.
Away from the desk
Between 2011 and 2014 I ran 17 races of marathon distance or longer: ten marathons and seven ultras, from the Vienna City Marathon to the Kainach mountain marathon in Styria, with 18 half marathons along the way. Running is still a daily habit. Sundays belong to the long run, and I am building back toward marathon number 18.
For more than 40 years I have trained in Chinese and Japanese martial arts and their philosophy. Right after my last ultra in 2014 I spent two weeks at the Shaolin Temple in China, the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the root of Zen. In Vienna I practise Bujinkan Budō Taijutsu, the Japanese tradition of Masaaki Hatsumi, and served as CFO of Bujinkan Wien, a non-profit martial arts club. Tai Chi and Qi Gong are part of my daily routine.
Both disciplines taught me what I use in every board meeting: only the next step counts, calm comes from posture and breath, and decades of practice still call for a beginner’s mind.
