The most important role in the emerging future of the pharmaceutical industry is medical affairs – a responsibility long viewed as a support function.For decades the medical affairs role was defined primarily by information support and the management of routine regulatory reporting requirements. Fast forward and medical affairs now encompasses strategy, safety, communications, post-launch trials, field teams and much more – a sort of command central of pharma.Medical affairs (MA) will be the single most powerful force in helping pharma to prove its value to the overall system and the ability to improve patient outcomes.Those in MA now find themselves with direct responsibilities throughout the product lifecycle, interacting with virtually all stakeholders – both internal and external. But the fact is that pharma and the companies who support it will need to invest even more in MA to keep up with the rapidly evolving interactions among stakeholders in a notoriously complex industry.

Responsibilities