Enabling Innovation: How Pintail Bridges Strategy, Execution, and Collaboration in Drug Development

Innovation in healthcare—especially in drug development—is rarely the product of a single brilliant idea. It’s the result of smart partnerships, disciplined execution, and the courage to ask difficult questions. In this conversation, Jason C. Bork, President of Pintail Solutions, discusses the challenges of cross-disciplinary collaboration and how Pintail helps organizations align strategy, capability, and accountability to move innovation forward.

Interviewer:
When really thinking about cross-disciplinary collaboration, especially given the complexity of drug development—or innovation more broadly—how can Pintail help?

Jason C. Bork:
When you look at development as a whole, there are three major components: you need a solid idea, ideally with intellectual property behind it; you need funding; and you need capability. Pintail helps with that third piece—capability. We support the execution, the Xs and Os, the blocking and tackling, and the delivery side of things.

But the most important element is what happens between those three pillars. How do you ensure you're asking the right question in the first place? How do you know you’re de-risking the right variables and answering the right problems as efficiently as possible?

Whether it’s a small biotech or a larger organization, success depends on selecting the right partners, holding them accountable, and ensuring you're getting what you expect in return. That’s where we help—not just tactically, but strategically. We help organizations grow in a way that positions them to deliver for their clients.

Interviewer:
Innovation is on everyone’s mind right now. What are some of the common pitfalls organizations face when trying to scale innovation?

Jason C. Bork:
There are a few common patterns. One is that teams are sometimes unwilling to ask the “killer question” early on—the one that could shut a project down. Instead, they hold off. They want to gather a little more data, build a bit more hope or momentum before facing the hard truth.

Another challenge is not fully understanding the external market—what clients actually need, what competitors are doing, how expectations are shifting. Innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum.

But one of the biggest roadblocks is internal process. A sweet spot for Pintail Solutions is helping organizations—especially those moving from a corporate background to a smaller biotech environment—strike the right balance. They need enough process and discipline to ensure accountability, but also the agility to keep creativity alive in scientific discovery.

We help design those processes: managing external partners, selecting them carefully, and making sure internal resources are aligned. Even when capability is limited, we help make sure there’s a plan for how to access what’s needed. That’s how we help clients move from idea to implementation.

Interviewer:
Jason, thanks for your time. Always appreciate it.

Jason C. Bork:
My pleasure. Thanks so much, Andrew.