In part four of our series with Andrey Doronichev, Founder and CEO of OPTIC (Bioptic), we dive into why partnership success in pharma comes from focusing on a specific person — the internal champion — rather than treating large organizations as faceless entities. This mindset shift transforms business development from generic outreach into targeted, relationship-driven strategy.
“Let’s say you’re running a biotech, creating technology you want big pharma to notice. You’re probably having conversations like ‘will Roche be interested?’ or ‘will Genentech care?’ And you talk about those corporations as big, faceless things.
In reality, the path to success is thinking of a specific person there — someone who might be interested and become the champion for the deal or partnership.”
In Part 4 of my conversation with Andrey Doronichev on The Biotech Startups Podcast, we unpack how to personalize BD and partnerships for large pharma, shifting from company-level abstractions to human-level relationships that actually move deals forward.
Key topics covered this episode:
- Building relationships with specific decision-makers — why identifying the right internal champion inside pharma is critical for closing partnerships
- Strategic BD approaches — moving beyond generic pitches to targeted, person-specific outreach that resonates with stakeholder incentives
- Due diligence from the inside — how pharma executives evaluate opportunities and what drives real interest
- Partnership dynamics — navigating corporate processes with an internal advocate who can shepherd the deal
- Scaling relationships — how early-stage biotechs can leverage a few strong connections to access broader pharma networks
A practical, insight-dense discussion for founders and BD leaders aiming to build meaningful partnerships in life sciences.
Watch more conversations on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast