The variation in Medical Affairs departments

With over ten decades of combined experience in Medical Affairs (MA), LUCENT’s experts have seen a huge variation between MA departments.

Matt Goodman, our CEO explores the differences and commonalities across MA departments.

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Whilst R&D functions across our industry are broadly similar in their form & function, the heterogeneity of Medical Affairs departments between companies (and even between departments within the same company), is huge.

Difference 1: What Medical Affairs does

Most MA departments have a mixture of MA activities including data development, dissemination, insight gathering, external engagement, cross-functional support.

However, some are solely-focused on external engagement and others concentrate almost entirely on compliance, spending a very large proportion of their time on the review and approval of marketing initiatives and materials.

Difference 2: How Medical Affairs works

The degree of collaboration with other functions (mainly marketing and access) significantly influences the MA department's effectiveness.

By fostering a culture of cross-functional collaboration, which runs so deep that it becomes second-nature, these departments excel in addressing complex challenges and maximising their value.

Conversely, restrictions on collaboration lead to a siloed MA department, hindering communication and knowledge sharing leading to fragmented strategy and missed opportunities.

Difference 3: Who is in the Medical Affairs team

Medical Affairs seems more sensitive to the quality of its people than most functions. The degree of emphasis on leadership and talent development within Medical Affairs shapes the department's capabilities substantially.

The MA departments that prioritise people development and continuous learning opportunities cultivate a high-performance culture, retain their high-performers and attract top talent.

On the other hand, we’ve seen MA departments lacking people development plans and subsequently they struggle to retain their best hires and run into issues executing their objectives. 

Commonality 1: Compliance and Ethical Standards

While the processes, rigor and effectiveness of compliance within companies may vary; maintaining high standards is paramount for all Medical Affairs departments.

And this is the one commonality.

The intent to maintain high ethical standards and compliance is consistent in every MA department we’ve worked with.

At LUCENT we are passionate about this diversity in MA across the industry and celebrate working with each MA department, as they form around different business and clinical needs, in different therapy areas, at different times of a medicines life-cycle.

It’s not for you to attempt to ‘standardise’ around a common set of activities, or a similar way of doing things. But if you would like to improve your MA efficiencies, or become inspired from other MA departments, contact us today to learn more or visit our Medical Affairs page.

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