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SEPTEMBER - 2023LIFE SCIENCES REVIEW 19By Dr Sarah Tregenza, PhD, BSc (Hons), APAC Oncology Medical Affairs Director, Pierre Fabre Group, and Matthew Britland, Founder and Medical Director, PharmedSciences he ways of operating for the pharmaceutical industry aka "Pharma" have continued to evolve post-COVID. COVID-necessitated acceleration of digital technology and literacy, big data, and change in the next wave of therapies coming through for patients, including cellular therapies, as well as an overall increase in complex and biomarker driven personalised medicine, mean Pharma has to adapt to meet the new needs of all relevant stakeholders. Increased use of Telehealth and Teletrials, on-demand educational content, and digital education and promotion, are just some of the recent innovations which have increased in this era to better meet Healthcare Practitioner (HCP) and patient needs. As Charles Darwin would say, "in order to survive and thrive in our new environment we need to ensure we are changing with it and try to keep pace." Or even better, anticipate the change and stay one step ahead of it!How Can Medical Affairs Thrive in This New Era?1. Patient Engagement is KeyEnsure you're working in close collaboration with the Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) who represents the Therapeutic Areas (TAs) your company is invested in ­ both pipeline and currently marketed products. HCPs are no longer the gatekeeper for patients to understand the different treatment options available, the evolving treatment landscape, including current trials, and the risks and benefits of various available treatment options. HCPs also rarely dictate any one option for a patient, but rather serve to present the patient with all possible available options at the time, the risks and benefits of each, perhaps with a slight recommendation towards a particular option based on their own knowledge and the patients' situations. It is then up to the patient to make an informed choice, according to their own unique circumstances and what they are hoping to achieve. More and more patients are driving their own treatment choices. Without working closely with PAGs, you have no way of knowing what patients currently want and need, both in terms of improving treatments in the TA, but also in terms of education to optimise both patient experience on a particular treatment, as well as better understanding what drives and differentiates treatment choices in the TA from a patient perspective. For example, understanding any challenges patients have adhering to a particular treatment regime so that your medical affairs team can work out ways of optimising the management of any treatment related adverse events to minimise the impact on the patients' quality of life, which could lead to premature discontinuation or non-compliance and hence impact outcomes or decisions to use a particular therapy. Patients also play an increasing role in payer decisions to fund new therapies, and we are seeing an increasing number of THE NEW AGE OF MEDICAL AFFAIRSTMatthew BritlandCXO INSIGHTS
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