Choosing the First Projects: Need‑First vs Platform‑First

Synopsis: When biotech meets bold partnerships, new models of innovation emerge. In this episode of the Biotech 2050 Podcast, host Rahul Chaturvedi welcomes Paul Biondi, Managing Partner at Flagship Pioneering, and Uli Stilz, Vice President, R&D External Innovation Partners at Novo Nordisk, to explore the power of co-creation. Together, they unpack how Flagship’s pioneering medicines model and Novo’s Bio Innovation Hub intersect to accelerate breakthroughs in obesity, diabetes, and cardiometabolic diseases. They share lessons on building trust, navigating crises, and structuring alliances that go beyond transactions into enduring innovation ecosystems. From human disease atlases to new frameworks for agile collaboration, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how pharma and biotech can partner differently—turning complexity into transformative therapies. Biography: Paul Biondi is a Managing Partner at Flagship Pioneering, leading Flagship’s product and partnering capabilities, including Pioneering Medicines, Partnering, and Pipeline and Product Innovation. In this role, Paul oversees Pioneering Medicines, Flagship's in-house drug discovery and development unit, as well as therapeutic partnering and business development efforts for the Flagship ecosystem, including driving broad institution-wide Innovation Supply Chain partnerships with biopharma companies to jointly conceive and create innovative products. Paul also works with Flagship company CEOs and their teams to achieve the best attainable value for each company, guiding them in their pipeline strategy, product concepts, R&D execution, and partnering approach. He serves on the boards of Flagship-founded companies, including Tessera Technologies (NASDAQ: TSRA) and Valo Health. Paul Biondi is Managing Partner at Flagship Pioneering, joining after 17 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), where he served as SVP of Strategy & Business Development and held leadership roles in R&D. He previously spent nine years at Mercer Management Consulting. Paul earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.A. from Dartmouth College. Uli Stilz is Corporate Vice President, R&D External Innovation Partners, External & Exploratory Innovation (E2I) at Novo Nordisk., based in Boston. He leads a global R&D team that builds creative partnerships with biotech, venture capital, academia, and research hospitals to co-create next-generation therapeutics in cardiometabolic and rare diseases. Building on the success of the Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub, Uli and the E2I team drive an externally anchored portfolio of collaborations that stimulate global innovation ecosystems and advance Novo Nordisk’s pipeline. Uli Stilz earned his Master’s in Organic Chemistry from ETH Zürich and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, followed by postdoctoral research at Caltech. He began his industry career at Hoechst AG and later Sanofi, where he became Associate VP of the Innovation Unit in the Diabetes Division. Over two decades, he contributed to more than 60 preclinical and clinical drug candidates in cardiometabolic, immunology, and oncology. From 2012–2014, he served as President of the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry. In 2014, Uli joined Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen and in 2019 moved to Boston to establish and lead the Bio Innovation Hub, now the External & Exploratory Innovation (E2I) organization. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at the University of Frankfurt, sits on editorial and scientific advisory boards, and holds board roles at the Kendall Square Association and Gensaic, while advising the aMoon Fund.