A successful launch requires deep involvement of Medical Affairs. Early stage TL interaction, successful TL targeting and clear MA guidance to commercial and launch resource management are the four areas that MA organizations must focus on during launch. Best Practices, LLC conducted this study to identify critical success factors for a strong Medical Affairs launch support and to define strategies for Thought Leader targeting and communication. This study delivers current data, insights and best practices from Medical Affairs leaders at top bio-pharmaceutical companies. The benchmark data in this study will help companies find better ways to develop successful launch strategies. Download Full Report: http://bit.ly/2dg0xwW

1. Best Practices, LLC Strategic Benchmarking Research
Medical Affairs’ Role in Ensuring
Excellence in Product Launch
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2. Table of Contents
 Executive Summary pp. 3-11
 Research Overview pp. 3
 Participating Companies pp. 4
 Key Recommendations pp. 5
 Segments & Abbreviations pp. 6-7
 Key Findings & Insights pp. 8-11
 Research Segmentation pp. 12-15
 MA’s Role in Launch Activities pp. 16-22
 Thought Leader Tiering pp. 23-29
 Thought Leader Targeting and MSL Coverage pp. 30-38
 Launch Investment pp.39-43
 MA Investment Allocation pp.44-48
 Participant Demographics pp. 49-50
 About Best Practices, LLC pp. 51-52
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3. Field Research & Insight Development:
Twenty Nine survey responses from Medical Affairs leaders
at 24 biopharmaceutical companies within mature markets.
This report captures insights on top biopharmaceutical
companies.
We based segmentation on three areas: Product’s Projected
Peak Annual Revenue, Targeted Physicians and Product’s
Launch Year.
Additional deep-dive interviews with 5 selected Medical
Affairs executives- 4 VPs and 1 Sr. Medical Affairs Director.
Provide Leading Insights on:
• Identify critical success
factors for a strong Medical
Affairs launch support
• Define strategies for TL
targeting and communication
Research Objectives & Methodology
Research Objectives:
 Illustrate how Medical Affairs is involved in the launch process in leading Pharma and Biotech
companies
 Highlight strategies for effective thought leader (TL) segmentation and relationship
management
 Understand challenges in managing successful Medical Affairs launch support
 Identify industry drivers regarding new product commercialization
 Explore critical strategies for allocating Medical Affairs launch budget effectively
Business Objective:
This research delivers current data, insights and best practices from Medical Affairs leaders at top biopharmaceutical
companies. The benchmark data in this study will help companies find better ways to develop successful launch strategies.
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4. Universe of Learning: Research Participants from 2014-2015 Study
This study engaged 28 executives from 24 leading life sciences companies. Segmentation analysis was key to examining trends
and effective practices. We created segments based on three criteria: Projected Peak Annual Revenue of the product, Targeted
Physicians for the product, Launch Year of the product.
Benchmark Class
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5. We analyzed Three Main Segments in the Research
We created three segments from the data we collected from our survey.
N=19-28
Segmentation
Projected Peak
Annual Revenue
– Based
Segmentation
Targeted
Physicians –
Based
Segmentation
Launch Year –
Based
Segmentation
High
Revenue
Expectation:
≥ $1B
Medium
Revenue
Expectation:
Btw. $500M
and $1B
Low
Revenue
Expectation:
≤ $500M
Both
Primary and
Specialty
Care Areas
Multiple
Specialty
Care Areas
Single
Specialty
Care Area
Launch
Year < 2012
Launch
Year ≥ 2012
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6. Segments and Abbreviations
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Abbreviations:
• FBMT: Field-Based Medical Team
• MA: Medical Affairs
• MedEd: Medical Education
• MedCom: Medical Communications
• MSL: Medical Science Liaison
• TA: Therapeutic Areas
• TBC: Total Benchmark Class
• TL: Thought Leader
• TLM: Thought Leader Management

7. Implications for Pharma:
 Medical Affairs is leading TL Activities and plays a key role between companies and decision
makers during launch process. This requires companies to create strong MSL teams, acquire the
right talent and provide effective training.
 Medical Affairs also plays a critical role in internal education and guiding commercial strategies
regarding products. This provides MA leaders with the opportunity to convey the needs of key
decision makers, thus companies to improve their products.
Key Findings & Insights: Medical Affairs Launch Support Excellence
 Medical Affairs’ Role in Launch Activities: Medical Affairs is heavily involved in five launch activities within
participating organizations: Scientific Publications, MSL Activities, Advisory Boards, TL identification and
development.
 Projected Peak Annual Revenue Segment: Higher percent of MA participants lead Continuing
Medical Education for products with lower revenue expectation.
 In addition, all of the sub-segments lead MSL Activities during launch process.
 Targeted Physicians Segment: While 78% of the participants said that MA leads TL Identification
and Development for single specialty products, this ratio is about 90% for multiple specialty and both
primary and specialty care products.
 However, a higher percentage of participants lead Continuing Medical Education and Real
World Data Generation & Analysis within the single specialty products segment.
 Launch Year Segment: MA is taking more leadership responsibility in three areas for products that
launched after 2012: Advisory Boards, TL Identification & Development and Continuing Medical
Education.
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8. Majority Say MA Leads 6 out of 11 Launch Activities
MA leads two launch activities for 93% of the benchmark class: Scientific Publications and MSL Activities. In addition, the
MA function is either leading or supporting Advisory Boards, TL Activities and Investigator & Site Identification in all
participant companies.
N=27
Medical Affairs' Role: Please identify Medical Affairs’ role in each of the following activities that take place during
launch and pre-launch phases.
93%
93%
86%
86%
61%
57%
41%
39%
37%
26%
22%
7%
14%
14%
21%
21%
59%
57%
44%
63%
59%
7%
7%
7%
4%
4%
4%
11%
14%
4%
15%
7%
15%
Scientific publications
MSL activites
Advisory boards
TL identification & development
Continuing medical educaion
Real world data generation & analysis
Investigator and site identification
Speaker training
Protocol design
Study/Site support & trouble shooting
Clinical research conduct
MA's Role in Launch Activities – Total Benchmark Class (TBC)
Lead Support Plan to Participate in the Next 12 Months None
% Respondents
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9. Case Example: Segment ‘TLs’ by Level of Influence before Evaluations
Segmentation Process
“Most of these physicians that we call
‘Thought Leaders’ are really just
important physicians, not TLs with
national influence.
“I have found it valuable to segment
them into ‘Thought Leaders’ and
‘Practice Leaders.’ You deal with them
differently and measure the quality of
the interactions differently. You can
delineate it further with segments for
‘Regional Practice Leaders,’ ‘National
Practice Leaders,’ and ‘Average
Doctors,’ which is the vast majority of
physicians.
“You should not evaluate them the
same because they serve different
functions.”
— Interviewed VP, Medical Affairs
(Company A)
Evaluating MSL/TL interactions is difficult for Medical Affairs leaders. One reason is that “TLs” are not a homogenous entity.
An interviewed VP segments “Thought Leaders” by their level of influence to facilitate evaluation.
Segment
Define
Compress
/ Expand
Populate
Assign
Segment your “TLs by level of influence
Define/ describe each segment in a way that’s
relevant to your organization and your product
Compress or expand number of segments,
depending upon specialties within a given
therapeutic area
Populate each segment with selected physicians
Assign selected physicians to staff members
responsible for interaction

10. 38%
38%
24%
Geographic Span – Benchmark Class
Global (Including U.S.) U.S. only Other
Others: Canada, Nordics, U.S. and Canada, U.S. Only and Western Europe.
N=28
Seventy six percent of the participants’ Medical Affairs organizations are responsible for two geographic regions: Global
(including U.S.) or U.S. only.
Geographic Span: What is the geographic span of responsibility that you have in Medical Affairs at your
company? (Choose all that apply.)
Majority of the Participants Have Either a Global or U.S. Only Role
% Respondents
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11. About Best Practices, LLC
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12. Best Practices®, LLC is an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of best practice
benchmarking®. We are a research, consulting, benchmark database, publishing and advisory firm that
conducts work based on the simple yet profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior
economic performance by leveraging the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of
world-class companies.
6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
(Phone): 919-403-0251
www.best-in-class.com
Learn More About Our Company:
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