18 Percent of Products Supported by Medical Affairs Teams Are Investigational

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - October 13, 2015) - Medical affairs groups are traditionally known for the work they conduct after a product launches, but a recent report from life sciences intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information finds that a portion of a team's supported products are investigational. According to Medical Affairs Management: Igniting Innovative Global Strategies, an average of 18 percent of the products in medical affairs portfolios have not yet launched. This trend underscores how medical affairs is becoming more active during pre-launch stages.

The percentage of investigational products in a team's portfolio varies based on team region. For global teams, 36 percent of supported products -- twice the average for all teams -- are investigational. In contrast, only 12 percent of supported products at the country-level are investigational. These data indicate that companies typically rely on global-level teams to spearhead activities for soon-to-launch products.

The report findings also highlight medical affairs' increasing involvement in launch activities and corporate strategy.

"Innovative medical affairs teams get involved by Phase 3 development -- if not Phase 2 or even discovery -- to help shape the product's lifecycle," said Natalie DeMasi, senior research analyst at Cutting Edge Information. "Nearly everything in a life sciences company touches medical knowledge in some way, which makes medical affairs involvement invaluable."

Different medical affairs subfunctions can provide numerous insights to impact corporate strategy. For example, medical science liaison teams can bring back key opinion leader insights regarding patient burden or drug utilization. Meanwhile, investigator-initiated trial teams are paramount to identifying new indications or patient populations for a product.

Medical Affairs Management: Igniting Innovative Global Strategies, available at http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/global-resource-allocation/, explores medical affairs' evolving role in company strategy, as well as medical affairs team structure, including involved subfunctions and strategy development structures. Report highlights also include:

• Medical affairs team budgets and staffing
• Medical affairs subfunction budgets, staffing and outsourcing data, by team region
• Trends affecting medical affairs and its individual subfunctions
• Stage during which 15 medical affairs subfunctions begin and reach peak activity

For more information about Medical Affairs Management: Igniting Innovative Global Strategies, please visit http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/global-resource-allocation/.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/10/13/11G067293/Images/PH214_PR2_ND__(1)-1389459382381.jpg