The most competitive pharma companies in the coming decade will be masters of data and digital technologies. They will generate and analyze vast volumes of real-world data and excel at communicating scientific evidence. Above all, they will help physicians navigate in a far more complex healthcare universe.
That profound shift is already under way. Pharma companies are developing data and scientific insights. But information channels are changing, and many companies have difficulty communicating science effectively with the growing array of stakeholders that influence purchasing decisions. That shortfall is one reason many new drug launches underperform: 50% of all launches now fail to meet company expectations, Consult Plus research shows.
Leading companies are upgrading medical affairs to overcome that deficit. Equipped with deep product knowledge and disease understanding, medical affairs teams can become a strategic ace in an era of Big Data. They are well positioned to generate and present high-quality scientific knowledge to the market and educate stakeholders about next-generation products.
As the demand for real-world evidence grows, those two roles will become increasingly critical to pharma companies’ performance. Physicians already are reducing their reliance on sales representatives and turning to more scientific sources of information, Consult Plus research shows (see Figure 1). That shift is even more pronounced among younger physicians. In parallel, the total number of sales representatives has fallen. In North America, pharma salesforce levels have dropped by about 7% between 2005 and 2011 and have leveled off since then. In Europe, they have fallen by 10% between 2006 and 2010.
An experienced medical affairs team can link scientific and clinical results to patient outcomes, adding value at every stage of a drug’s development. When discussing a potential new compound with physicians, payers and opinion leaders, for example, medical affairs teams gather vital feedback on its market potential and patient needs at the earliest stages of the drug development process. The insights they glean over time can improve return on investment and create a strong competitive advantage by helping companies design more effective clinical programs and launches.
