00;00;00;00 – 00;00;33;09

MAPS

Oh. Welcome to this episode of the Medical Affairs Professional Society podcast elevate. The views expressed in this recording are those of the individuals, and do not necessarily reflect on the opinions of MAPS or the companies with which they are affiliated. This presentation is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal or regulatory advice. And now for today’s elevate episode.

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Donato Forlenza

Hi and welcome to the MAPS Medical Information Focus Area working Group podcast series, Cutting Edge, where we will dive into posters presented at the MAPS America’s 2025 Annual Meeting. I’m Donato Forlenza, Associate Director of Medical Content and Training in Global Oncology Medical Affairs at Daiichi Sankyo. Joining me today is Michael DeLuca, Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs from Eversana, who presented one of the standout posters at the Americas meeting entitled One Team, One Voice The Impact of Centralized Medical Content Development.

00;01;11;16 – 00;01;12;15

Donato Forlenza

Welcome, Mike.

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Michael DeLuca

Thanks for having me, Donato.

00;01;15;10 – 00;01;23;08

Donato Forlenza

So, Mike, let’s dive in. Your research has caught a lot of attention at the meeting. Can you tell us what motivated you to explore this topic?

00;01;23;17 – 00;01;46;03

Michael DeLuca

Yeah. Based on my personal experience working at various pharmaceutical companies, as well as my experience had Eversana supporting global clients, I seen some evolution in the models companies have utilized when it comes to medical content development. So we conducted a survey to better understand Medical Affairs professional strategies for medical content development.

00;01;46;03 – 00;02;04;11

Michael DeLuca

We wanted to understand if companies were utilizing centralized versus decentralized medical content creation models, and also to assess the adoption of structured authoring and AI enabled solutions to improve scalability, consistency and efficiency in medical content development.

00;02;04;16 – 00;02;30;24

Donato Forlenza

This is such an important topic and especially valuable for medical information teams. I’ve worked in Medical Affairs across several biopharmaceutical companies and have experience with both models decentralized and centralized content development. So I’m fascinated to hear about your findings. Let’s dive deeper to start us off. Could you share with us when the survey was conducted and the demographics of the respondents?

00;02;30;28 – 00;02;50;25

Michael DeLuca

Yes. The survey was conducted in 2024. Eversana as Medical Affairs Leadership team? Saw industry insights via an online questionnaire that was distributed on LinkedIn to Medical Affairs professionals. It included medical information, medical communication, and other relevant Medical Affairs functions.

00;02;50;25 – 00;02;58;14

Michael DeLuca

The survey contained 13 questions covering literature, surveillance, medical content development, structured authoring, and AI adoption.

00;02;58;14 – 00;03;14;29

Michael DeLuca

24 industry professionals responded to the survey, with approximately 38% from medical communications, 37% from medical information, 13% from NSF, plus 8% medical directors and 4% other affairs functions.

00;03;15;06 – 00;03;31;01

Donato Forlenza

That’s a nice sampling from a range of functional areas within Medical Affairs. So you mentioned centralized versus decentralized content development. Could you explain to our listeners what exactly that means? And what did the results show?

00;03;31;04 – 00;03;41;03

Michael DeLuca

Yes. Traditionally, you know, various functions and Department of Cost Medical Affairs were responsible for developing content for their specific functions, often in silos.

00;03;41;03 – 00;03;51;26

Michael DeLuca

This would be a decentralized approach where groups like scientific communications, medical information, muscles, medical training, medical directors each year are

00;03;51;26 – 00;03;54;11

Michael DeLuca

all produced. Their own medical content.

00;03;54;11 – 00;04;00;03

Michael DeLuca

A centralized model is a process of producing content in a more integrated and structured approach.

00;04;00;06 – 00;04;11;11

Michael DeLuca

Usually, companies would have one team or department focused on content development. This is in order to reduce redundancies and ensure consistency in the scientific messaging.

00;04;11;11 – 00;04;15;19

Michael DeLuca

Often in this approach, an integrated medical communication plan is utilized.

00;04;15;19 – 00;04;22;10

Michael DeLuca

In this survey, out of the 24 respondents, ten stated they are using a centralized approach.

00;04;22;10 – 00;04;35;16

Michael DeLuca

Eight respondents said they’re using a decentralized approach just across a couple Medical Affairs functions, and then five respondents stated they’re using a decentralized approach across multiple Medical Affairs groups.

00;04;35;29 – 00;04;47;16

Donato Forlenza

Really fascinating results. Especially the trend showing 42% of respondents using a centralized contact model. Why do you think companies are moving toward this model?

00;04;47;23 – 00;04;52;23

Michael DeLuca

A centralized content strategy enhances alignment across Medical Affairs functions.

00;04;52;23 – 00;05;04;18

Michael DeLuca

The value of a holistic, end to end strategy using centralization can improve efficiencies, reduce redundancies, improve consistency, and enhance flexibility in the content creation.

00;05;04;18 – 00;05;11;25

Michael DeLuca

Donato, what are you currently doing at your company and what have you seen in your previous experience at the various companies you’ve worked at?

00;05;12;03 – 00;05;24;14

Donato Forlenza

In my past positions at two prior biopharma companies in Medical Affairs, we traditionally had a decentralized model, with each function developing their respective content.

00;05;24;14 – 00;05;34;21

Donato Forlenza

In my current position at HSA, go in Medical Affairs content and training, I lead Global Medical Affairs Content development for a subset of our portfolio.

00;05;34;21 – 00;05;44;01

Donato Forlenza

This centralized model consolidates oversight of most global Medical Affairs content under a single focal point.

00;05;44;03 – 00;06;05;07

Donato Forlenza

This helps foster one medical voice worldwide and a consistent scientific narrative pull through into the content library. Spanning across various content types designed for different communication channels. As part of a larger multi-channel or omni channel model,

00;06;05;07 – 00;06;24;22

Donato Forlenza

this also helps drive efficiencies in the strategic planning and tactical execution of content holistically, especially for seamless coordination of key data dissemination strategies into content and pivotal milestones like launches.

00;06;24;25 – 00;06;27;09

Donato Forlenza

Also, educational gaps in

00;06;27;09 – 00;06;53;28

Donato Forlenza

customer insights can be synthesized and integrated into content libraries in a consistent manner as well. So we’ve been able to take advantage of these types of benefits from this model, which at the end of the day, ultimately help facilitate our capability to educate the healthcare community informed clinical decision making and optimize patient care.

00;06;53;28 – 00;07;06;22

Donato Forlenza

We’re also on a journey to leverage modular of our content as well, which was also part of your research and is a popular topic. What do the results show related to that?

00;07;06;27 – 00;07;13;28

Michael DeLuca

Yes. Nine respondents stated that they are currently exploring solutions for structured authoring and developing modular content.

00;07;13;28 – 00;07;28;10

Michael DeLuca

Only five companies stated that they are already leveraging this technology, though four companies stated that they previously explored, and five companies stated that they are not using or exploring structured authoring for modular content development at this time.

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Donato Forlenza

It seems many companies are still not using structured authoring and modular content. Is that because there’s no value?

00;07;37;04 – 00;07;57;00

Michael DeLuca

Exactly the opposite. In response to the question how valuable? What an intuitive and easy to use tool for structured, component based authoring or modular content development. Be. The survey results showed that 71%, or 17 out of 24 thought a solution would be valuable or very valuable.

00;07;57;00 – 00;08;03;00

Michael DeLuca

Four respondents said not sure and one respondent stated little or no value.

00;08;03;09 – 00;08;08;29

Donato Forlenza

Another term you cannot seem to avoid these days is generative AI.

00;08;08;29 – 00;08;14;18

Donato Forlenza

What did the results say about actual utilization for content creation?

00;08;14;18 – 00;08;47;09

Michael DeLuca

We asked a question has your team explored or leveraged AI enabled solutions for content development? In response, ten respondents stated, no, they have not. Only two stated they’re already leveraging the technology today. However, 11 stated currently exploring and one participant stated previously explored. I think it’s important to note that the survey was conducted in 2024. I think it is likely more companies are now using or exploring GDI in their content development strategies.

00;08;47;25 – 00;09;03;01

Donato Forlenza

Interesting results on the current use of AI enabled solutions for medical content development. What are the what are some of the advantages of a holistic, end to end aligned medical content development strategy?

00;09;03;01 – 00;09;05;17

Donato Forlenza

And do companies see value in that approach?

00;09;05;26 – 00;09;30;26

Michael DeLuca

Yes. The advantages of a holistic, end to end model for medical content development, aligned to the approach of centralizing medical content development and partnering both internally and externally with service providers that are helping companies to produce the content. Usually this has some core key goals improve efficiency, reduce redundancies, improve consistency, and enhance flexibility in the content creation.

00;09;30;28 – 00;09;32;23

Michael DeLuca

Also, cost reduction.

00;09;32;23 – 00;09;40;01

Michael DeLuca

88% of the respondents stated that a model like this would be valuable or very valuable for their organizations.

00;09;40;07 – 00;09;59;00

Donato Forlenza

I love these results. It resonates with me being witness to the advantages of this model in my current position. Certainly centralized content development is gaining traction for its efficiency and consistency. Mike, so what are some of the key takeaways?

00;09;59;02 – 00;10;13;06

Michael DeLuca

I think as we look at conclusions from the survey that we conducted, there’s a growing trend in centralizing medical content development, and companies find that a holistic, end to end model for medical content development is very valuable.

00;10;13;06 – 00;10;23;13

Michael DeLuca

Participants also saw value in leveraging structured authoring or component based modular content solutions, and using gen AI for medical content development.

00;10;23;15 – 00;10;27;13

Michael DeLuca

However, they are not as highly utilized or fully adopted yet.

00;10;27;13 – 00;10;32;29

Michael DeLuca

To capitalize on these insights. Organizations must prioritize cross-functional collaboration,

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Michael DeLuca

adopt scalable technologies, and streamline processes that align medical information, medical communications, and broader Medical Affairs initiatives.

00;10;42;23 – 00;10;53;22

Michael DeLuca

These strategic measures will ensure delivery of high quality, consistent messaging and reinforcing HCP engagement and optimizing patient outcomes.

00;10;53;22 – 00;11;09;25

Donato Forlenza

Mike, I’d like to thank you for lending your valuable insights and sharing an overview of your MAPS poster. And to our listeners. Thank you for tuning in today to the first in our series of podcasts from the Medical Information Focus Area Working Group.

00;11;09;25 – 00;11;14;00

Donato Forlenza

We hope you enjoyed our discussion. See you next time.