Are your medical and commercial strategies working?
To create powerful, effective strategies that deliver, you need to understand market dynamics fully, starting with a strong data and insights management system. If you’re not tapping into every available source — social media, medical reports, congresses, advisory boards, and field intel — you’re missing critical insights and putting your strategy at risk.
How can medical affairs teams determine which data sources are mission-critical, and how do they overcome barriers to integrating this data into actionable plans? In a recent webinar presented by MAPS, moderator Paul Simms (Impatient Health) and five industry experts unpacked the subject and tackled those questions. The panel included:
- Adam Fairfield, Senior Director of Medical Affairs Launch Excellence, Eli Lilly
- Sahar Javaherian, National Director, U.S. Medical Affairs, MSLs, Oncology, Jazz
- Elena Lunina, Global Medical Omnichannel Head, Vaccines, Sanofi
- Tomasz Piotrowski, Head, Medical Affairs Innovation Lab, Novartis
- Lance Hill, CEO at Within3
Managing data overload
The real challenge isn’t acquiring data — it’s managing it. Many organizations struggle to integrate multiple data sources effectively. A recent live webinar poll revealed that 31% of respondents use data across medical and commercial teams but in silos. Another 28% reported similar data usage within medical teams. Only 11% have a unified, multi-source insights report.
This disconnect creates blind spots and limits the ability to fully understand the market. As Lance Hill from Within3 pointed out, medical affairs have historically developed in isolation, separating social listening, congress reporting, field activities, and patient advocacy. This fragmented approach leads to an incomplete market view, increasing the risk of misguided strategies.
Pre-launch periods in the pharmaceutical industry present significant data management challenges, especially when it comes to distinguishing valuable insights from noise. Adam Fairfield from Eli Lilly points out that high-value data often hides in niche social channels or within the beliefs of small populations about new products, making it difficult to accurately assess early strategies. However, technology and AI can improve the capture and reporting of this data, leading to greater confidence by clarifying the signals that matter most. As Fairfield notes, understanding the strategy’s alignment with customer perceptions hinges on having solid data.
Why medical affairs should lead the charge
Who should take responsibility for managing the complex data landscape in medical affairs? With 30% of webinar respondents citing limited resources or expertise as a significant hurdle, Elena Lunina from Sanofi asserts that medical affairs should lead this initiative instead of outsourcing it. Medical teams are uniquely positioned to ask the right questions and generate actionable insights, especially when collaborating closely with digital teams.
Lunina explains, “It’s not like a separate team. It’s still in medical affairs,” but emphasizes that this requires new connections between medical and digital. She further notes, “We need to be involved even more in standardizing the ways we are collecting the insights, looking at the information and interpreting the interpretation is a critical part where medical plays a crucial role.”
Bias presents another challenge. Larger data sets can reduce bias, but Fairfield warns that they might also dilute high-quality insights from key experts like KOLs. AI can help filter out the noise, amplifying the most valuable signals without drowning out expert opinions.
Creating a 360-degree market view
Lance Hill underscores the importance of fully integrating all available data sources — congresses, field observations, medical literature, and clinical trial data — to gain a complete view of the market. Without integration, teams risk missing critical signals in an increasingly noisy environment.
AI-powered tools like social listening offer tremendous value but must be part of a cohesive insights management system that brings all these puzzle pieces together.
AI’s role in pharma
AI’s potential in medical affairs is undeniable, with 50% of attendees expressing optimism. Sahar Javaherian from Jazz Pharmaceuticals recommended that medical affairs teams approach AI adoption intentionally starting with pilot programs. AI can assist with synthesizing advisory board feedback, predicting the next best action, and much more.
Though AI’s full potential is still being explored, Javaherian encourages teams to continue experimenting, combining both qualitative and quantitative insights to create more informed strategies.
Accelerating innovation with new technologies
Panelists like Tomasz Piotrowski from Novartis emphasized the importance of fostering high-performance groups within organizations to experiment with new technologies. He believes that creating “Skunkworks” teams allows for safe exploration of AI, enabling them to push boundaries and report valuable insights back to the broader organization. As he notes, “We need to overcome the fear of the unknown with these tools and embrace new ways of working to strengthen our organization.” Piotrowski argues that companies that give smaller teams room to explore AI applications will ultimately enhance their entire organization.
The road ahead for medical affairs
- Use technology to free up time for long-term planning: Day-to-day tasks shouldn’t overshadow future-focused thinking.
- Show AI’s benefits incrementally: Early wins encourage broader adoption.
- Start with pilot programs: Give teams the freedom to explore and test new tools.
- Celebrate small successes: Early victories can build confidence in AI and other innovations.
Medical affairs teams that excel at integrating diverse data sources, supported by AI, will solidify their role as a strategic pillar within pharmaceutical organizations.
With the right tools, medical affairs teams can achieve more with less. Within3’s data source management solutions uncover 3-7X more insights while reducing data management workloads by 90%. That’s why all of the top 20 pharma companies work with us. Get in touch to learn how we can support your medical affairs strategy.