MedCity News May 16, 2022
Covid changed things for medical affairs teams at pharmaceutical companies, causing was a fundamental shift in the way they worked and functioned. The role of the medical science liaison—a key member of the medical affairs team—has also evolved.
In the early 2000s, pharma companies unleashed legions of sales representatives to promote their products to physicians. Pharma sales teams often had tens of thousands of reps. Medical science liaisons (MSL) teams existed but played a very different role than they do today.
This dynamic started to change the following decade for three major reasons. First, in 2010, new regulations were passed to promote transparency and unbiased medical decision-making. Companies are now required to publicly report any payments or other transfers of...