Developing Medical Affairs Leaders Who Create the Future
Alexander Bedenkov, Viraj Rajadhyaksha, Maarten Beekman, Carmen Moreno, Pei-Chieh Fong, Lyra Agustin, Sarah Abood O’Dell
Abstract
Medical affairs has evolved over recent years from a support, to a partner, to a strategic leadership function. In the future, there will be significant changes in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, and many of these will be due to technological advances and digitalisation. Medical affairs will be largely influenced by these developments in terms of partnerships with key stakeholders, embracing innovation and patient-centric healthcare, and demonstrating value for novel treatment options. In order to secure future success within their roles, medical affairs professionals will have to demonstrate specific capabilities founded on communications and behavioural change, business leadership acumen, knowledge acquisition and self-development, and the ability to generate real-world evidence from insights and expertise within data science and analytics. It will be our responsibility as medical affairs leaders to create this foundation for the leaders of tomorrow.