In this episode of AI For Pharma Growth, Dr Andree Bates speaks with Smbat Rafayelyan, founder and CEO of Bioneex, about how AI is reshaping biopharma business development, deal scouting and asset evaluation.

Business development has traditionally relied heavily on relationships, conferences, databases, analyst reports and manual search. But as therapeutic pipelines, publications, patent filings and global biotech activity expand, that old model is becoming harder to sustain. Smbat explains why teams that only rely on their network risk missing valuable assets before they even know they were available.

The conversation explores how AI can act as a deal scout, helping biopharma and VC teams identify, structure and evaluate opportunities faster. Smbat explains how Bioneex allows biotech companies to submit non-confidential asset information, while AI extracts, validates and compares that data against external sources, curated databases and market intelligence.

They also discuss where AI is most useful in the BD process. The aim is not to replace human judgement, but to reduce the overwhelming search space. If AI can narrow thousands of potential assets down to a small, relevant shortlist, expert teams can spend their time on the work that matters: diligence, strategic fit, deal judgement and human relationships.

Smbat also warns that AI is not magic. General-purpose language models are not enough for serious deal sourcing. Effective AI scouting requires structured data, validation, multiple specialised models, human review and infrastructure built specifically for biopharma business development.

Topics Covered

• Why traditional deal scouting is too slow

• The limits of relationship-led deal flow

• How AI supports asset search and evaluation

• Matching biotech assets with pharma and VC priorities

• Why structured and validated data matters

• AI use cases beyond drug discovery

• Narrowing thousands of assets into focused shortlists

• Failure modes of general-purpose AI in BD

• How BD teams may change over the next few years

• Why human judgement still matters in due diligence

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AI platforms and tools solve specific problems. Strategy makes sure you’re solving the right ones, in the right order. If you want help mapping priorities as you evaluate what to roll out next, send me a LinkedIn DM starting with ‘PRIORITIES’ and two lines: what’s already in flight, and the decision you’re trying to make next.

About the Podcast

AI For Pharma Growth is the podcast from pioneering Pharma Artificial Intelligence entrepreneur Dr Andree Bates, created to help pharma, biotech and healthcare organisations understand how AI-based technologies can save time, grow brands, and improve company results.This show blends deep sector experience with practical conversations that demystify AI for biopharma leaders, from start-up biotech right through to Big Pharma. Each episode features experts building AI-powered tools that are driving real-world results across discovery, R&D, clinical trials, medical affairs, market access, regulatory, insights, sales, marketing, and more.

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