A Vision for Medical Affairs 2030: Five Priorities for Patient Impact

The article, "A Vision for Medical Affairs 2030: Five Priorities for Patient Impact", published by McKinsey & Company in October 2023, explores how medical affairs functions within the pharmaceutical industry are evolving and outlines the key strategies necessary for medical affairs to drive meaningful change by 2030. It expands on the 2018 vision for medical affairs becoming a coequal pillar alongside research and development (R&D) and commercial functions, emphasizing the increasing importance of medical affairs in shaping healthcare outcomes through innovation, data integration, and strategic collaboration. The article stresses the importance of medical affairs' transformation in improving patient outcomes and overcoming current barriers.

Background and Industry Context

The 2018 vision for medical affairs anticipated a dramatic transformation in how these teams operate, driven by advances in digital technologies, biological sciences, and data analytics. This transformation aims to elevate medical affairs as a strategic function that can directly influence patient outcomes. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this transformation, with innovations such as mRNA vaccines and a shift to virtual healthcare engagement models serving as case studies for how quickly the industry can adapt to new technologies.

The pharmaceutical industry has heavily invested in technology and analytics to improve R&D, commercial, and medical affairs functions. External regulatory pressures, such as the 2022 U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and new European health technology assessment regulations, have further reinforced the need for integrated technological solutions across all functions. The rapid evolution of the industry also emphasizes the need for medical affairs to stay ahead of the curve and redefine its role in driving patient-centered care.

Core Deliverables for Medical Affairs in 2018 Vision

The 2018 white paper outlined four core deliverables for medical affairs:

Innovate Evidence Generation: Medical affairs should lead data-driven evidence generation to address patient needs and improve outcomes.

Accelerate Access: Medical affairs teams should influence healthcare delivery and access through high-quality evidence and content.

Transform Medical Engagement: Leveraging AI and data for more tailored, impactful engagement with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients.

Step Up Medical Leadership: Medical affairs should become the strategic voice for driving patient-centered outcomes across organizations.

Emerging Trends in Healthcare

The article discusses the changing landscape of healthcare, noting that younger, more diverse HCPs are adopting digital innovations such as telehealth and remote monitoring. These technologies are reshaping patient care and communication, emphasizing the need for medical affairs teams to adapt to these trends. The rising focus on health equity also plays a significant role, with medical affairs positioned as a key player in addressing disparities in access and outcomes.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite progress, several barriers remain. Medical affairs teams face gaps in capabilities, resource constraints, and misalignment across organizations, all of which impede transformation. The article stresses that to meet the vision for 2030, medical affairs leaders must take bold steps to overcome these challenges and accelerate change.

Future Directions for Medical Affairs

The article lays out five transformative priorities for medical affairs, outlining the key strategies that will shape its role by 2030.

1. Differentiating Medical Strategies

Medical affairs must be at the forefront of defining asset, franchise, and launch strategies. Key areas of focus include:

Enhancing cross-functional collaboration: Medical affairs must work more closely with R&D and commercial teams to integrate insights and create unified strategies. Sharing medical insights across these functions will lead to more cohesive, impactful strategies.

Developing ambitious and adaptive plans: Medical affairs teams must define progressive, ambitious strategies with clear, measurable goals over a three- to five-year horizon. These strategies should be adaptable to changing therapeutic options and evolving clinical practices.

Aligning resources effectively: With flat or declining budgets in recent years, medical affairs teams need to reallocate resources more efficiently. This may involve automating routine activities or shifting focus to areas that can drive higher impact, with an emphasis on demonstrating how these investments can improve patient outcomes.

2. Aligning Evidence Generation with Stakeholder Needs

The article highlights the increasing sophistication of evidence generation, with AI and real-world evidence (RWE) playing critical roles. Medical affairs teams are uniquely positioned to identify evidence gaps and drive initiatives that address the needs of healthcare providers, patients, and payers. Key points include:

Integrated evidence planning: Evidence generation needs to be cross-functional and integrated across the product lifecycle. Currently, only 20% of leading pharmaceutical companies take this approach. By bringing together internal stakeholders and aligning evidence generation with external stakeholder needs, medical affairs can create a continuous flow of evidence to support dialogues across various external groups.

Operationalizing innovative approaches: As evidence needs are evolving rapidly, medical affairs will need to implement innovative methodologies and AI tools to speed up data collection and analysis. Advanced analytics, including linking datasets from claims, electronic medical records (EMRs), and omics data, will enable the generation of evidence quickly and effectively.

Customizing evidence delivery: Medical affairs should focus on delivering evidence in formats tailored to the specific needs of different stakeholders. For instance, interactive evidence dashboards could allow healthcare providers to explore data in real time, customize it for particular patient populations, and make more informed decisions.

3. Orchestrating Medical Engagement

As medical affairs evolves, its role in engaging stakeholders will expand beyond key opinion leaders to include community physicians, payers, and value-based decision-makers. Digital engagement is expected to become a central strategy for scaling medical affairs' impact. Critical actions include:

Data-backed engagement: Medical affairs leaders should build a data-backed understanding of healthcare providers’ preferences and needs along their clinical-care journey. This will help in tailoring interactions, such as leveraging CRM tools and social media insights to inform medical strategies.

Broadening and coordinating channels: Engagement will no longer rely solely on traditional methods (e.g., MSLs, congresses). Medical affairs teams must integrate digital channels into their engagement strategies, including social media platforms. Coordinating across these various channels will provide HCPs with a seamless and compliant experience, increasing engagement and impact.

Transitioning to engaging content formats: In the future, medical affairs will use innovative content formats, such as animated visualizations, modular content, and generative AI to produce engaging, scientifically sound narratives. These formats will help capture attention and deliver impactful messages more effectively.

The Path Forward: Implementation and Next Steps

To achieve the transformation outlined in the five priorities, organizations will need to adopt a phased, iterative approach. Key next steps include:

Translate vision into strategic priorities: Leaders should develop annual plans and budgets that align with the long-term vision for medical affairs transformation.

Invest in data and analytical capabilities: Building scalable tools for data analysis and evidence generation will be crucial for driving impact across geographies and therapeutic areas.

Adjust operating models: To facilitate real-time modifications of activities based on new data, companies will need to adjust their operating models and ensure that their teams can quickly respond to changes.

Develop a five-year roadmap: Organizations should create a roadmap that focuses on enhancing patient outcomes at scale. This includes upgrading talent, identifying potential barriers, and fostering a collective sense of urgency across the organization.

Key Takeaways

The article presents an ambitious vision for the future of medical affairs, emphasizing the critical role of medical affairs in improving patient outcomes by 2030. The following are the key takeaways:

Innovating strategies: Medical affairs teams must lead in developing innovative asset and launch strategies that drive patient impact.

Data integration and advanced technologies: Embracing AI, real-world evidence, and digital platforms will be central to the transformation of medical affairs.

Tailored engagement: Successful medical affairs will be built on data-backed, stakeholder-centric engagement strategies.

Long-term planning and collaboration: Achieving the vision for 2030 will require coordinated, cross-functional efforts and sustained investment in capabilities, talent, and resources.

This vision provides a rallying cry for the industry to redefine medical affairs' role in healthcare by 2030. It stresses the need for continuous innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and a strong focus on patient-centered outcomes in all medical affairs activities. The future of medical affairs is one where it becomes a key driver in improving healthcare delivery across the globe.

Source: McKinsey & Company, October 2023

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