There has recently been a major refocus on the function of Medical Affairs in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the scope of abilities and responsibilities within Medical Affairs teams remains unclear – as a result, Medical Affairs initiatives are currently limited to providing information to healthcare professionals (HCPs) through various educational campaigns.

The potential of Medical Affairs extends far beyond this!

Medical Affairs teams are uniquely positioned to address a number of modern challenges, such as:

• The increasing complexity of novel therapeutics, including their mechanisms of action
• The overwhelming intricacy of evidence generation, through innovative clinical trial designs that make the interpretation of data and communication of those interpretations even more challenging
• The information overload that HCPs face from all angles, which makes it difficult to identify the most valuable and impactful pieces of data
• The evolving landscape of industry interactions with HCPs and other stakeholders, where regulations often obstruct the efforts of commercial branches to deliver the essentials in a timely and effective manner

The solutions lie in empowering Medical Affairs teams to lead and resolve:

• Timing of engagement. Medical Affairs teams can be tasked with responsibilities ranging from early pre-launch (18–36 months before approval) to peri- and post-launch stakeholder engagement
• Scoping stakeholders. Medical Affairs teams are uniquely positioned to interact with HCPs, key thought leaders, regulatory and reimbursement bodies, patient advocacy groups and many others
• Data generation. Medical Affairs professionals are empowered to engage in data generation – from contributing to pivotal studies to post-marketing research (collaborative and external investigator-initiated programs) to data dissemination (both company-driven satellite symposia, standalones, etc., as well as independently managed CME initiatives) and additional data interpretation and analysis
• Communication. Medical Affairs ensure two-way communication with various stakeholders through the management of advisory boards, steering committees, 1:1 interactions and other sources of reactive medical information
• Ultimately, Medical Affairs have the potential to lead strategic decision-making

Optimising pharmaceutical strategies and workflows is a tough endeavour; partnering with other experienced professionals in the industry – such as the Medical Affairs team at Cognite – offers a swift, straightforward, effective and rewarding approach.

If you have any questions or would like to hear more from our Medical team, reach out to Andrey Gurevich via email at andrey.gurevich@cognite.co.