The Current State and Future Directions of Insights-Related Activities Within Medical Affairs
MAPS speaks with co-leads of the Insights Focus Area Working Group (FAWG) about the current state and future directions for Insights in Medical Affairs.
MAPS speaks with co-leads of the Insights Focus Area Working Group (FAWG) about the current state and future directions for Insights in Medical Affairs.
This paper explores how moving to a holistic, multi-channel approach to insights will create value for the organization, patients and the medical community.
a) Create a community to connect MA professionals who have experience and an interest in building an organizational framework for medical insights.
b) Have a robust discussion on how to build a framework that enables MSL insights to inform medical strategy at both the local and global level.
c) Share best practices on how to communicate the impact and value of medical insights.
By: Matthew McLoughlin, DVM, MBA1; Marieke Jonkman, PharmD2; Milana Zivkov, MD, MSc3
1Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) Insights Focus Area Working Group (FAWG) member; 2Medical Science Liaison, QED Therapeutics, MAPS Insights FAWG member; 3Senior Director, Insights and Training Global Lead Medical Communications, Medical Affairs, Astellas Pharma, MAPS Insights FAWG Lead
In March and April 2020, the MAPS INSIGHTS Focus Area Working Group (FAWG) conducted two surveys. The surveys were sent to all MAPS members but were set up to identify pharmaceutical industry-based respondents only (Survey 1) and among them, those who are directly responsible for insights (Survey 2). After collating and analysing the results, this paper provides a brief overview of the survey’s objectives, results and analysis, as well as suggested next steps.
INSIGHTS FAWG conducted two surveys; the first survey focused on demographics, Medical Affairs (MA) roles involved in medical insight generation, and the prevalence of dedicated insights functions in MA. The second survey focused on the specific insight functions within MA organizations, their approaches to insight generation, and the storage, sharing, and use of insights within different companies.
Survey 1 had 95 responses, and Survey 2 had 40 responses. 29% of respondents to Survey 1 were MSLs, and 53% of respondents to Survey 2 worked at an affiliate level. See full results for survey 1 HERE and for survey 2 HERE.
From the results, we draw the following initial conclusions:
The number of responses was limited given the total MAPS membership (N=3,448), and responses may have been skewed towards MSLs’ perspectives on insight generation. Additionally, the surveys did not address company-specific perspectives as only individual MAPS members participated. Compliance aspects, including CRM governance, another vital area of interest for insights generation, were not included within the scope of these surveys.
Notwithstanding the limitations mentioned, we did identify several overarching themes in the responses across the two surveys:
The purpose of generating medical insights is to build a better understanding of the needs and drivers of the behaviour of patients and HCPs so that strategies and tactics can be tailored to address the needs of these stakeholders in the most effective way. If insights are not documented, shared, and used effectively through relevant action and assessment of resulting impact, then the process risks becoming futile. To succeed, pharmaceutical companies will require a framework that enables a process-based collection of medical insights from different sources, subsequent collation, review and analysis. Furthermore, an integrated report that both MA functions and other senior decision-makers find useful and on which they provide feedback is essential.
INSIGHTS FAWG will, as part of the 2020-2021 activities plan, endeavour to develop a common framework that pharmaceutical companies can use to achieve a more consistent and effective approach to generating medical insights as a principal driver for strategy shaping and choice of tactics.
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