Unlocking the power of AI in Medical Affairs

Unlocking the power of AI in Medical Affairs
  • Blog post
  • March 06, 2025

Brian Selvarajah, Dr. Thomas Solbach, Oguz Ozden, and Angela Bunn

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI) catalyze innovation and streamline processes, the pharmaceuticals industry is embracing this transformative technology, as discussed in our previous report Re-inventing pharma with artificial intelligence.

With increasing influence as strategic leaders, Medical Affairs (MA) teams are also harnessing the GenAI opportunity to reimagine how this technology can enhance functional capabilities and re-define their role within the industry.

Using a hypothetical PharmaCo of $30 billion in annual operating profit, previous Strategy& research modeled and identified $130-370 million of potential annual operating margin uplift attributed to GenAI use cases in MA. Looking at both top and bottom-line improvement, this analysis included cross-functional GenAI use cases that includes the MA function such as medical material development, account management efficiencies, and expedited regulatory filings.

Medical Affairs at a Glance

MA has evolved into a critical strategic function in recent years as detailed by our previous article on The Future of Medical Affairs, which discusses the function’s expanding role. No longer only a provider of scientific and medical expertise, MA teams use their unique position as a bridge between internal and external stakeholders with many potential opportunities for AI to enhance activities across the lifecycle.

Exhibit 1: Medical Affairs activities that can be enhanced by GenAI

The demand for MA insights and expertise is growing, particularly as many PharmaCos’ pipelines shift towards highly specialized medicines and external stakeholders seek more scientific, cross-functional dialogue (Medical Affairs in the driver’s seat). This evolution is further driven by more information, which MA teams must access, digest, and utilize effectively as specialists within PharmaCos. In response to these pressures, MA teams could explore using key AI applications to enhance their capacity and capabilities.

Exhibit 2: AI can empower Medical Affairs in different ways

Let’s investigate these areas on how AI can enable the future of MA:

1. Time-savings on routine MedEd and MedInfo inquiries

Changes in the healthcare system necessitate not only specialized education and training, but also, transformation in how information is managed and delivered. Recognizing this, many organizations are looking to employ GenAI solutions to save time on routine tasks enabling teams to spend more time on higher-impact tasks. Examples include:

GenAI can be used to manage incoming MedInfo queries by generating content tailored to their complexity, urgency, and context. Routine queries, such as standard dosing or indication-related questions, can be addressed with generated responses, reducing time spent by professionals. For more complex inquiries, GenAI can draft detailed preliminary responses or summaries, which are then routed to specialists for review.  

GenAI can analyze incoming queries to uncover recurring themes or highlight areas requiring updated information. This can then enable the creation of targeted FAQs or educational materials that can be proactively shared with HCPs. Additionally, this content can power virtual AI concierge services, providing unprompted answers to common questions and reducing the overall volume of repetitive inquiries.  

GenAI tools can enhance pre-visit planning by engaging with HCPs through conversational interfaces. These tools can summarize key details about the HCPs’ needs and create tailored agendas or other preparatory materials for medical field representative ahead of consultations. This can ensure that both the HCPs and the medical teams are well-prepared, with more efficient interaction for both parties.

Several startups are currently developing these and similar tools that could allow MA teams to capitalize on GenAI providing new opportunities for PharmaCos to partner. For example, Yseop has developed a tool that can automate the creation of detailed medical reports, regulatory documents, and scientific literature reviews. For MA teams, this could free up time for more high-impact activities and ensure more consistency and accuracy. Meanwhile, Abridge, a series C startup, has developed a voice-activated AI assistant that automates the documentation of medical information, quickly transcribing and organizing scientific discussions into structured output for expedited post-visit follow-ups.

2. Cross-functional, multi-stakeholder omnichannel approach

The healthcare stakeholder ecosystem is expanding beyond traditional physician interactions, necessitating broader cross-functional engagement strategies where MA plays a key role. This ecosystem includes a diverse range of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, payers, and regulatory bodies. To tackle this stakeholder ecosystem approach, PharmaCos need to plan for cross-functional omnichannel solutions. GenAI can be used as a tool to underpin this approach by supporting omnichannel efforts in ways outlined below.

Exhibit 3: How AI is supercharging omnichannel strategy

Omnichannel platforms simplify cross-functional communications to the same stakeholders, in one place. This can help with greater efficiency and more meaningful messaging while still ensuring the proper compliance safeguards are maintained.

Transforming data from one format to another is a key GenAI capability. In alignment with the principles outlined in our previous article Why pharma companies need customer segmentation to drive personalised engagement, GenAI enables advanced content personalization by stakeholder.

GenAI can help teams to customize communications to match the preferred channels and styles of stakeholders, such as delivering detailed text for those who prefer reading and enriched audio or video for others, which enhances clarity and engagement.

GenAI uses advanced natural language processing (NLP) to adapt communications for diverse linguistic and cultural contexts, ensuring that medical content resonates with local nuances while being accurately translated. Furthermore, ability of these tools to recognize and adapt to regulatory nuances ensures that content is aligned with regional compliance requirements.

3. Activation of medical insight sharing

Across the product lifecycle, valuable insights are generated from interactions with external stakeholders. However, these insights can often remain siloed due to regulatory constraints, organizational structure, and resource limitations. Consolidating and sharing these insights can unlock value and enhance the strategic alignment from development through to commercialization efforts.

For instance, MA amasses critical medical insights on HCP product queries as well as the challenges of key KOLs. This knowledge can empower market access and marketing teams to craft more resonant value propositions or R&D teams identify areas of unmet need to fuel early R&D programs. Presently, MA may only disseminate these insights to other functions reactively and on a case-by-case basis. However, GenAI presents a transformative opportunity to proactively distribute insights compliantly and at scale.

Exhibit 4: Impact of AI on medical insights across PharmaCos

Imagine an AI-based insight retrieval tool customized with compliance guardrails and the nuances of each function's “insight listening” priorities. This intelligent “data sorting” tool can sift through large, anonymized MA datasets (e.g., Medinfo inquiries, HCP visit notes, surveys, congress insights, etc.) to extract actionable insights.

GenAI could then be used for the creation of automated reports tailored to the specific needs of each function. These reports would be enriched with action-orientated next steps and helpful visualizations, transforming raw data into strategic outputs. By automating this process, teams save time and effort, allowing them to focus less on manual report delivery and more on making impactful decisions from actionable insights.

Envision GenAI as an orchestrator of cross-functional data collection. GenAI can be used to query cross-functional inputs to identify areas where efforts are duplicated, or where there are gaps – then use these insights to suggest adjustments to each function’s data collection activities. GenAI also ensures that the insights generated are practical and widely applicable. For instance, insights created for a doctor in Germany treating specific patient cases could also benefit a UK doctor facing similar clinical challenges.

By actively using GenAI in innovative ways, MA can not only fortify collaboration but also inspire a culture of continuous knowledge sharing and strategic alignment. Via evolved medical insight sharing within the function, disease specialists and medical directors can have access to knowledge to inform external discussions much closer to real time. In addition, this can support more of a “medical-on-demand" operating model as other functions can tap into medical insights and collaborate with medical colleagues to tackle interrelated business challenges.

The potential of GenAI in MA is substantial, offering enhancements to routine tasks for MedEd and Medinfo, cross-functional external stakeholder engagement, and shared insights across PharmaCos. It is essential for MA teams to plan for the evolving future early, starting with a clear roadmap on how to integrate prioritized use cases into their operation.

Nick Bitterlich and Kevin Kalinka also contributed to this article.

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Dr. Thomas Solbach

Dr. Thomas Solbach

Partner, Strategy& Germany

Oguz Ozden

Oguz Ozden

Director, Strategy& UK

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