Key Insights for Partnering with Pharma R&D

Practical lessons for startups and scaleups working with large pharma
DAYONE COHORT 2026 | CHRISTIAN HEIN | 7 SEPTEMBER 2026

"Strategic interest in AI does not automatically create urgency or budget for your solution."

01. Start with the pharma reality

- No burning platform: strategic interest does not guarantee urgency or budget.
- R&D teams take scientific risk, but are cautious about changing established workflows or relying on unvalidated evidence.
- Explain both what is technically new and why it matters to the R&D programme.

02. Navigate decision-making

- The internal champion, budget owner and scientific or clinical user may be different people.
- Sponsors change and restructurings can reset priorities, even when a partnership is working.
- Understand the programme investment cycle and the yearly pharma budgeting process.

03. Structure the partnership for the real organisation

- Who scouts, funds, negotiates and manages the relationship depends on what you offer.
- Bring Quality, Privacy, Safety and IT Security in early, not after the pilot succeeds.
- Make integration with existing systems easy and show why the solution adds value versus internal or existing alternatives.

04. Prove value, adoption and scale

- Agree meaningful KPIs and a comparator from day one.
- A successful pilot on one target, dataset or study does not prove broader reproducibility.
- Plan training, support and ownership for adoption beyond the pilot.
- Clarify intended use, validation, data/IP, governance and exit terms early.

Partnerships are challenging, but often worth it. Never underestimate the complexity of decision-making in big pharma. Find the right people, understand the partner's goals and design for adoption and scale from the start.

Summary of the DayOne 2026 session: Key Insights for Partnering with Pharma R&D
Copyright Christian Hein 2026