RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Separating medical and commercial teams to avoid compliance issues, is the most important factor considered by drug and device companies when setting up their medical affairs organizational structure.
A new study published by Cutting Edge Information, “Medical Affairs: Resource Allocation for the Global Marketplace,” found that one of the first decisions that companies make when structuring their medical affairs teams is whether to establish a centralized group that supports various parts of the company or a decentralized group. Half of the companies surveyed responded that they had centralized medical affairs teams in place.
As long as information flows back and forth through the medical affairs structure, then the team can uphold its responsibility to respond to medical inquiries and disseminate medical evidence. “Aside from erecting a structural firewall between medical and marketing teams, there is no true best practice for configuring the actual medical affairs team’s structure,” said Ryan McGuire, research team leader at Cutting Edge Information.
Companies’ medical affairs team structures vary widely. Some pharmas implement fully centralized medical affairs organizations in which global teams are responsible for executing strategy. Others operate fully decentralized functions in which country-level teams develop their own plans to support local market needs. Other options include a hybrid between centralized and decentralized teams to maximize the benefits of both structures.
The study found that the most significant medical affairs communications take place between its internal subteams and cross-functional groups, such as marketing and clinical development teams. As the medical affairs function has expanded over time, its need to coordinate across the company at a strategic level has only increased.
“Medical Affairs: Resource Allocation for the Global Marketplace” (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/global-resource-allocation/) features detailed data on optimal medical affairs structures and best practices for cross-functional communication with clinical and marketing teams. The research includes four years of budget data for the overall medical affairs function. Use this report to:
- Strengthen medical affairs staffing, structure and organizational support within pharmaceutical or medical device companies.
- Empower medical affairs teams via adequate budget and staffing resources prior to product launch.
- Position health economics teams under the medical affairs umbrella.
For more information about medical affairs operations, contact Cassie Demeter at 919-403-6583.
