Reflections of an Evolving Medical Affairs Skillset: From MASS East to West and Beyond

The Fierce Medical Affairs Strategic Summit (MASS) West 2024 took place on September 24-25 in San Diego, CA. This conference, held nearly five months after its East Coast counterpart (you can read our coverage of MASS East here), showcased both evolving skillsets and priorities for Medical Affairs leaders, as well as key themes that consistently remain top-of-mind for them. MASS West 2024 showcased numerous successful initiatives, particularly in health equity, the adoption of emerging technologies such as AI and Real-World Evidence (RWE), and the increasingly sophisticated measurement of impact metrics.

Health Equity in Focus

Health equity emerged as a central theme throughout the summit, highlighted from the very first session: “Driving Diversity and Patient-Centric Innovation: The Transformative Role of Medical Affairs.” This session provided insights from one biotech’s journey to ensure diversity, spanning from clinical trial enrollment to value dossier development and payer negotiations.

Day 2’s keynote, “Enhancing Health Equity through Collaborative Healthcare: Leveraging Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Improved Health Outcomes for All Patients,” further underscored this topic. A large pharmaco medical leader outlined practical strategies for embedding health equity into daily operations, including:

• Collaborative efforts across internal teams: Engaging cross-functional colleagues in Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Advocacy Relations, and Market Access to identify opportunities to promote diversity throughout the drug lifecycle.
• Building trust in underrepresented communities: Working closely with local healthcare providers (HCPs) to address access issues, recruit diverse patient populations, and strengthen sustainable clinical infrastructure.
• Global rollout strategies: Prioritizing the uptake of drugs in low- and middle-income countries during the later stages of their lifecycle, after R&D and patent exclusivity phases.

The Role of Technology in Medical Affairs

MASS West 2024 sessions on Medical Affairs technology demonstrated the growing maturity of AI applications and the enhanced use of RWE to drive impact and decision-making.

In “Mastering AI in Medical Affairs: From Strategy to Impact,” speakers discussed the technology adoption journey within Medical Affairs, progressing from basic manual dashboards to advanced AI systems capable of tracking impact metrics across medical insights, education, and field interactions, etc. While many organizations are still in the “walking” phase—using dynamic PowerBI or Tableau dashboards to track metrics —the progress made within the past year has been significant.

Other sessions, such as “Driving Patient-Centered Advocacy: Leveraging Real-World Evidence [RWE] and Clinical Data for Informed Publications and Enhanced Outcomes,” explored novel ways to use RWE to guide field Medical engagement and optimize content delivery across multiple channels.

Another forward-thinking session, “Mapping the Digital Landscape: Showcasing Value and Embracing Transformation in Medical Affairs,” provided real-world examples of AI being used to optimize workflows, such as literature reviews. It also addressed the critical need to regularly review AI-generated content for accuracy, particularly to avoid common errors or “hallucinations” and ensure compliance.

Practical Tools for MSLs

The evolving role of Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) was also a major focus. In “Leveraging Technology and Innovative Tools for Enhanced MSL Effectiveness,” the discussion centered around how real-time communication, HCP outreach, and even generative AI tools are reshaping MSL responsibilities. From analyzing literature during HCP visits to collaborating more efficiently in the field, the new technologies showcased have the potential to transform MSL effectiveness.

Measuring Impact Metrics: Beyond Activity

A recurring theme throughout MASS West 2024 was the shift from traditional activity metrics to more meaningful impact metrics. Sessions emphasized the importance of tracking metrics that demonstrate real clinical behavior change—such as increased diagnostic testing—rather than merely capturing activity-based indicators like booth visits or literature downloads.

Effective measurement is now integral to strategic planning, goal setting, and omnichannel content development in Medical Affairs. Relevant data sources for these metrics include claims data, EHRs, surveys, social listening, and analysis of medical insights, providing a comprehensive view of Medical Affairs’ impact.

Navigating FDA Guidance on SIUU

One session delved into the October 2023 FDA guidance on Medical Affairs discussions surrounding Specific Information on Unapproved Uses (SIUU) of Approved or Cleared Medical Products. According to the guidance, SIUU materials—whether published journal articles, clinical practice guidelines, or company-generated presentations—must be presented only to treating HCPs and not shared with Commercial or Sales colleagues. Additionally, these discussions should be recorded in customer relationship management (CRM) systems as “discussed SIUU” without sharing further details with commercial teams.

On balance, MASS West (and its evolved agenda from MASS East earlier this year) reflects the zeitgeist of current Medical Affairs organizations: starting to unpack new technologies (especially AI) to streamline the mission to bring drugs to the most patients that need them the soonest.

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