Medical Affairs Globalization: Sound Management Strategy, or Passing Trend?

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwire - April 3, 2008) - Many pharmaceutical companies now command a global presence, which has triggered some organizations to globalize their medical affairs departments. However, as a study by Cutting Edge Information has found, individual companies must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of globalizing medical affairs to determine if it is a sound structural model for their organization (www.pharmamedicalaffairs.com).

Arguably, one of the greatest benefits of establishing a global medical affairs structure is that it allows companies to develop a unified global medical affairs strategy for a product and to execute the product's plan. The global medical affairs department's role in coordinating activities should not be understated. It can serve as the main communication hub for all the medical affairs teams worldwide. Having a group dedicated to a product's global medical affairs strategy also allows regional teams to concentrate on their markets' distinct needs.

Additionally, global oversight makes business sense, as many drugs are available around the world. Managing products at a high level, in theory, would help eliminate overlapping work performed by medical affairs teams in different regions.

"When we spoke to executives who had a global medical affairs structure in place, one benefit that they considered invaluable was the sharing of resources and tools," says Elio Evangelista, research team leader at Cutting Edge Information. "Companies that leverage these tools and resources properly can achieve greater efficiency and be more cost-effective."

However, there are challenges of having a globalized medical affairs structure. For instance, global medical affairs groups often have to rely on regional medical affairs teams to perform important medical affairs tasks. It can be difficult for teams to focus on these global tasks when they have regional plan of action deliverables that need to be achieved.

Companies deciding whether to develop a global medical affairs platform or not must outline and evaluate the potential advantages and disadvantages of the structure to determine if it will be a good fit.

"Medical Affairs: Delivering Strategic Value" was designed to explore pharmaceutical companies' medical affairs structures, resources and strategies. Download a free summary of the study or purchase the report at: http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/pharmamedicalaffairs/PH112_Download.asp#body.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Elio Evangelista 919-433-0214