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. 2020 Oct;34(5):301-307.
doi: 10.1007/s40290-020-00351-y. Epub 2020 Sep 19.

Developing Medical Affairs Leaders Who Create the Future

Alexander Bedenkov  1 , Viraj Rajadhyaksha  2 , Maarten Beekman  1 , Carmen Moreno  1 , Pei-Chieh Fong  1 , Lyra Agustin  1 , Sarah Odell  3
Affiliations

Developing Medical Affairs Leaders Who Create the Future

Alexander Bedenkov et al. Pharmaceut Med. 2020 Oct.

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors are permanent employees of AstraZeneca. The thoughts and statements expressed within this article are written in the capacity of medical affairs professionals and not as AstraZeneca employees. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of AstraZeneca.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Evolution of medical affairs function
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Healthcare, pharmaceutical industry and medical affairs environment in the future
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The seven key capabilities for driving the future of medical affairs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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