Strategic Medical Department Review
Medical departments within biopharma organisations across the world play a vital role in bridging the gap between scientific research and commercial goals.
Unfortunately, many pharmaceutical organisations struggle to measure or truly appreciate the effectiveness and strategic value of their Medical Affairs teams.
LUCENT was engaged by the UK arm of a global pharma company, hereby referred to as ‘PharmaCo’. PharmaCo’s new General Manager in the UK had a strong commercial background, but lacked the first-hand Medical and Medical Affairs experience needed to align the Medical department with broader business goals.
This is why LUCENT was chosen to deliver a complete Medical department strategic review over the course of eight weeks. To deliver on this, we leveraged our data, analytics, benchmarking and decades of experience working within, and leading, Medical departments.
“The LUCENT team were efficient, professional and highly effective. They delivered insights that we would not have been able to glean by ourselves.”
What challenges was PharmaCo facing?
Whilst the Sales, Marketing and Market Access departments were well defined, highly functional, and easy to measure in terms of contribution to business outcomes, the value of the Medical department was harder to quantify, and the performance level more difficult to get clarity on.
Leadership had a nagging suspicion that Medical Affairs wasn’t operating as efficiently or as strategically as it could be.
How did we structure the project?
From the outset, it was clear that a tailored, direct, and outcome-focused approach was necessary. The project was structured in a way that ensured all findings would be relevant, actionable, and aligned with PharmaCo’s broader business objectives.
To achieve this, we looked at the departments through the lens of four different workstreams (WS):
The Four LUCENT Workstreams
Vision, Strategy, Plans & Projects (VSPP)
People, Leadership, Structure & Culture (PLSC)
Budget & Efficiency
Compliance & Ethics
We started with an orientation phase. Here, we drew on 1:1 discussions and documentation review to formulate a clear picture of the department as it currently operates.
Specific themes were then interrogated within each WS and compared to best practice, industry benchmarks, and LUCENT positioning on the future of the relevant departments.
Feedback was provided to the project lead face to face, allowing time for discussion and challenges. Follow-up meetings were planned early to ensure that outstanding questions had the opportunity to be discussed.
Following this, we provided an implementation roadmap, laying out all recommendations with their associated implementation interdependency and timelines for delivery.
What did we find?
Over the course of three weeks of fact-finding by LUCENT, four key issues became apparent:
Lack of clear vision and alignment – There was no unified long-term vision across departments, leading to confusion and misalignment between Medical Affairs and commercial goals.
Role confusion and leadership gaps – Medical and marketing were seen as "support functions," lacking a strong leadership structure and operational clarity.
Inefficient resource allocation – Budget allocation did not reflect priority areas, with significant marketing investments made without aligning tightly with business needs.
Compliance and ethical challenges – Compliance and ethical standards were not prominent in the business culture, and the ethical framework needed reinforcement.
Many of these issues were ongoing; an entrenched culture that would not change without a push. PharmaCo sought an external perspective to assess gaps, streamline their Medical operations, and develop a roadmap for measurable improvement.
What did LUCENT deliver?
A transformative strategic Medical review, delivering a comprehensive view of the entire Medical department. At the end of the eight-week period, we delivered a dossier of findings – a fully bespoke LUCENT playbook of what needed to improve, and the impact this would have on the function of the business overall.
This dossier covered a bespoke triage, identifying key priorities for organisational improvement and an 18-month roadmap for implementation (including interdependencies).
Vision, Strategy, Plans & Projects (VSPP)
LUCENT supported PharmaCo in defining a five-year company vision, creating alignment from corporate strategy down to individual roles. This included:
Developing internal communication channels to reinforce PharmaCo vision.
Investing in UK-specific resources for Health Economics & Outcomes Research (HE&OR) to strengthen market access capabilities.
Creating an omnichannel engagement strategy to improve cross-departmental efficacy, especially in digital and real-world interactions.
People, Leadership, Structure & Culture (PLSC)
Recognising the need for a strong leadership structure, our specialists helped to redefine roles and report lines within the Medical department, aligning these changes with PharmaCo’s vision and priorities. Recommendations included:
Streamlining leadership roles to reduce confusion and ensure each role added strategic value.
Realigning the team to focus on high-impact areas, moving resources from routine compliance tasks to more value-driven initiatives.
Budget & Efficiency
To optimise resource use, we focused on budget recalibration and efficiency improvements. Key recommendations included:
Reducing reliance on external headcount and exploring hybrid delivery models.
Leveraging current IT systems to automate processes and reduce manual inefficiencies.
Reallocating budgets to prioritise areas critical to growth while maintaining cost control.
Compliance & Ethics
A stronger compliance culture was necessary. As a result, we proposed measures to elevate ethical standards across PharmaCo. These included:
Building a "speak-up" culture to ensure issues could be raised without fear.
Enhancing compliance visibility within PharmaCo, particularly around Medical information and safety standards.
Results
LUCENT’s strategic review clarified the position of the PharmaCo Medical department in the eyes of senior management, and empowered it to operate as a high-value, commercially aware function within the broader organisation. By aligning Medical Affairs with PharmaCo’s growth strategy, LUCENT helped the department transition from a support function to a key driver of business success.
Following the Strategic Medical Department Review, PharmaCo followed the aforementioned 18-month implementation roadmap. By following this, PharmaCo saw several transformative changes within their Medical Affairs department:
Improved alignment and morale – By establishing a clear vision and structured roles, LUCENT helped the Medical team align more closely with PharmaCo’s commercial objectives, resulting in enhanced morale and a renewed sense of purpose.
Optimised budget utilisation – Through targeted budget reallocations and efficiency improvements, PharmaCo was able to direct resources towards strategic growth areas and reduce operational waste.
Enhanced compliance and ethical standards – A stronger compliance culture emerged, with clearer guidelines and a robust ethical framework to support rapid business growth without compromising integrity.
Increased cross-functional collaboration – LUCENT’s work encouraged better collaboration across departments, fostering a more integrated approach between Medical, marketing, and compliance functions.
Stronger commercial acumen within Medical Affairs – By introducing commercially-orientated best practices, LUCENT instilled greater business awareness within the Medical team, allowing them to contribute more directly to PharmaCo’s strategic goals.
“LUCENT did in eight weeks what would have taken us several years to achieve otherwise. With their help, we were not only able to identify where change needed to be made, but to take rapid, measurable steps in the right direction.”
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LUCENT is a hand-picked, carefully curated team of biopharma industry veterans who have spent their entire careers in biotech & pharma companies. PharmaCo trusted our team of specialists to re-commercialise their organisation, and we did exactly that.
Are you sure that your Medical Affairs department is running at maximum efficacy? When developing medicines, you only have one shot to get it right. Trust your medicines with us and let us help you bridge the gap between R&D and commercialisation.
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