Four Steps to Better Scientific Engagement

Medical innovation is growing at a rapid pace. Since 2015, new cancer therapeutics in clinical development in the United States have increased by 34%.¹ Globally, oncology sales are projected to exceed $230 billion annually by 2024.² Not only must scientific experts be aware of the greater number of drugs in the pipeline, but they also need to understand increasingly complex treatment mechanisms.

Oncologists require specific data to know which therapeutic intervention to administer at the right point in the treatment life cycle. Medical affairs plays an important role in educating scientific experts on the latest advances in oncology. As the treatment paradigm evolves, life sciences companies are rethinking how to deliver scientific information, tools, and education.

For many, cloud technology has become the critical enabler to deliver relevant medical education and increase awareness. By coupling precision medicine with the cloud, the industry can partner with oncology care teams to deliver optimal patient outcomes. Companies can focus on four specific steps to ensure better scientific engagement:

1. Better collaboration through data sharing:
New tools, such as remote meetings and compliant email solutions, enable two-way dialogue and better collaboration with time-constrained scientific experts. “We know that many treatments require combinations and/or sequencing, not just delivering one drug the whole time,” says Glen Morris, Worldwide Field Medical Business Solutions Lead at Bristol-Myers Squibb. “With modern cloud solutions and tactics like remote conversations that meet physician schedules and allow for in-depth back-and-forth conversation, we can now add greater value with these improved and more flexible engagements.”

2. Evidence-driven interactions:
Medical affairs teams can arm care teams with more scientific information than has been possible in the past. This includes key trial data, clinical best practices, and treatment management tools aligned with the oncologist’s experience, interests, location, patient population, career objectives, and other characteristics.

Some innovative companies also extend education beyond just the oncologist to include diagnostic and research specialists, nurses, physician’s assistants, and other caregivers. The care team receives vital information about treatments, including specific clinical factors that drive better outcomes. These can range from information on identifying clinical sub-populations who might respond better to various treatment sequences to differing protocols for tolerability and compliance.

3. Novel insights:
Medical teams have traditionally pushed information to doctors based on the HCP’s past activity in a therapeutic area. Today, companies can leverage new data sets and algorithms to drive evidence-based discussions based on the full picture of the expert’s past and current activities. By meeting the HCP at their particular career stage and in ways that support their current goals and interests, medical affairs creates meaningful interactions that can develop into long-term relationships.

4. Leveraging artificial intelligence:
Life sciences companies can now access and integrate modern, patient-centric data sources for sharing information with scientific partners to drive better outcomes. This is enabled by advances in the cloud. New technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), deliver valuable insights from large data sets that were previously difficult to access and analyze. Going forward, data collection and analysis will be conducted using dynamic tools that incorporate real-time information. AI will help the data analysis to remain relevant even as lifecycle objectives change.

For the first time, the industry will have the opportunity to leverage big data sources that are accurate, complete, and always current. They will be able to apply AI and data analytics technologies, and share insights directly with stakeholders across the therapeutic landscape. With these insights at their fingertips, medical science liaisons can support oncologists and other specialists with greater speed and relevance.

Learn from Paul Williams, Senior Director of Global MSL Excellence at Takeda, on Takeda’s medical affairs transformation to help MSLs better engage with experts.

^{1 Meiling, Brittany. PhRMA’s new report counts each cancer drug in the US pipeline. Endpoints News. 30 May 2018.
2 Evaluate Pharma. World Preview 2018 Outlook. June 2018.}