How Medical Affairs and Commercial Teams are Shaping Pharma’s Success

More than three quarters of the Medical Affairs leaders shared that they are experiencing greater transparency and collaboration with Commercial teams within their organizations. This is a significant shift when compared to just 5 to 10 years ago, when Medical Affairs and Commercial often operated in distinct silos where collaboration between these two functions was viewed with caution, primarily due to compliance concerns and fears of “scientific overreach” by commercial interests. Conversations were often filtered, and joint strategic planning was rare.

Fast forward to today, and the story is changing. This 78% “Yes” response reflects a broader cultural and operational transformation in the life sciences industry. This transformation is still ongoing, with some organizations pioneering initiatives such as co-led brand teams, and others still struggling with legacy.

So, what might be fuelling this transition? Here are some of the major drivers—though the list isn’t exhaustive:

Fig 1: Are you seeing greater transparency and collaboration between Medical Affairs and Commercial teams in your respective organizations?

Customer-centric Approach

With a shared focus on meeting the needs of Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) and patients, Medical Affairs and Commercial teams are aligning more closely. HCPs expect consistent, accurate, and timely information and often want to speak with a medical professional — so it is critical that cross-functional coordination is in place. This common goal has become a key driver, yet, it is still challenging because of the number of customer-facing roles in both Commercial and Medical Affairs, and implementing a system that coordinates the interactions has not been easy. Ultimately, breaking down silos and fostering more integrated, purposeful collaboration must be the goal.

Strategic Repositioning of Medical Affairs

Once seen as a support function, Medical Affairs is now at the forefront of launch readiness, evidence generation/dissemination, and thought leader engagement. It is critical for Medical Affairs to have the opportunity to contribute early to the strategy for a customer centric approach to come to life. Medical Affairs should be taking the lead with the scientific story and narrative.

Pressure to Optimize Resources and Infrastructure

With increased constraints on budgets and teams, collaboration is no longer optional—it’s a smart way to optimize resources, improve ways of working and avoid duplication of effort. Leaders also report “shifts” of budget from Commercial to Medical Affairs have enabled the Medical Affairs teams to expand their offerings and create opportunities for collaboration.

Compliance Considerations

As organizations move further away from their Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) periods, more practical and balanced forms of collaboration are emerging—within clear boundaries. Regulatory concerns need to be addressed, especially in light of the Scientific Information on Unapproved Uses (SIUU) guidelines and interpretation of ‘consistent with label’. There is also a higher expectation by HCPs regarding the quality of information, particularly for “data on file,” which only Medical Affairs teams can provide.

Company Culture

Organizations that promote open communication, mutual respect across functions, shared product goals, and even shared enterprise resources have created a strong foundation for meaningful collaboration between Medical Affairs and Commercial teams. This kind of culture—anchored in compliance and ethical standards—enables closer alignment while preserving scientific integrity, making joint planning and execution (where appropriate) more seamless and effective.

Enterprise Mindset

Medical Affairs teams are now expected to think beyond traditional roles. This means anticipating broader enterprise needs and contributing insights that support functions like market access, policy, and patient engagement. By aligning with corporate priorities, Medical Affairs teams can demonstrate value across the organization—not just within their own silo.

This shift marks a moment of opportunity and responsibility for the Medical Affairs community. Closer collaboration shouldn’t dilute scientific integrity. Medical Affairs leaders now have a stronger seat at the table, influencing product strategy, shaping stakeholder experiences, and co-creating value with Commercial—while still upholding scientific standards and compliance.

When asked whether Commercial leadership prioritizes transparency and collaboration with Medical Affairs, 67% of Medical Affairs leaders believe the answer is yes. While majority of the Medical Affairs leaders report that Commercial leadership is prioritizing transparency and collaboration with Medical Affairs, discussions reveal that the strength of this commitment often hinges on visible and consistent support from the top.

Examples like joint Commercial and Medical Affairs Town Halls and promoting co-leadership roles demonstrate how leadership can set the tone for integration. However, these initiatives require more than symbolic alignment—they depend on clearly defined roles, mutual accountability, and a shared understanding of success. Furthermore, there is a growing consensus that Medical Affairs must proactively assert its strategic value rather than operate reactively.

This shift calls for not only a change in mindset but also deliberate investments in capability building and communication frameworks. Building skills in business acumen, influencing and communicating in a way that Commercial can understand will be important if Medical wants to improve the prioritization of this collaboration.

This raises important questions for the Medical Affairs community: Are we clearly communicating the value we bring beyond scientific accuracy? Are there consistent KPIs or frameworks that showcase how Medical Affairs efforts contribute to business outcomes? Are we engaging Commercial leadership proactively—or reactively?

Fig 3: Do you believe that greater transparency and collaboration between Medical Affairs and Commercial teams is seen as a priority by the commercial leadership?

For Medical Affairs leaders, this is an opportunity to reflect and recalibrate:

How can we better showcase our strategic contributions aligned to our business goals?

What narratives or proof points resonate most with Commercial stakeholders?

Do we have a seat at the planning table early enough to influence shared objectives?

What have been the type of challenges you have run into when collaborating with your colleagues on the commercial side?

Ways of Working

• Traditional processes and operating model
• Unclear understanding and/or misaligned expectations of Medical Affairs deliverables/core remit
• Resistance from Commercial on alternate ways
• Lack of alignment on ways of working
• Demonstrating impact takes time

While momentum is building around Medical Affairs–Commercial collaboration, leaders say the journey is still evolving. In an open-ended poll, Medical Affairs leaders candidly shared the practical hurdles they’ve encountered. Collaboration efforts are often impeded by entrenched ways of working, misaligned incentives, and operational silos. Legacy organizational models, coupled with compliance constraints and disparate infrastructures, make alignment challenging. It’s also noted that demonstrating the impact of collaboration takes time—but it is expected to improve with greater clarity around strategy, shared understanding of objectives and KPIs, and better communication of the overall plan.

Council members emphasized that bridging mindsets is critical. Medical Affairs must learn to operate with more agility and Commercial must appreciate the longer-term value that Medical Affairs brings. It’s important to recognize that it takes time to build trust. Interestingly, the absence of unified SOPs and governance models emerged as both a challenge and an opportunity, making it possible for organizations to co-create new models of collaboration that are tailored, agile, and scalable.

How can organizations move from intent to action? Below is a tactical roadmap to help Medical Affairs and Commercial teams operationalize collaboration and build scalable impact.

Fig 4: How have your team members reacted when being asked to collaborate with colleagues on the Commercial side?

There is a mix of sentiments on the ground: Cautiously optimistic yet positive. While many Medical Affairs leaders report positive experiences collaborating with Commercial teams, there remains an undercurrent of hesitation, largely rooted in the fear of being perceived as commercially biased. This caution underscores a deeper need for cultural evolution—one that organizations must nurture over time. Council members acknowledged that meaningful change must be led intentionally by leadership, not only through vocal support but through sustained action.

To normalize cross-functional collaboration, leaders should offer consistent strategic clarity, reinforce messaging through various internal channels, and establish structured forums that enable open dialogue and shared goal setting. Additionally, organizations should embed proactive change management practices and offer targeted training programs that empower Medical Affairs professionals to build confidence and competence in collaborative roles. These steps, taken together, can foster a culture of trust, reduce resistance, and accelerate the shift toward integrated, patient- and value-centric engagement models.

As the role of Medical Affairs evolves, the expectations from teams are also expanding. They are increasingly expected to act as bridges between the scientific and business worlds. This shift demands new capabilities— such as business acumen and digital fluency—along with behavioural attributes like comfort with ambiguity and cross-functional collaboration.

Council members highlighted the need to update hiring practices and internal training to reflect these new demands. Additionally, there is an urgent need to articulate Medical Affair’s value in business-relevant terms and leverage digital platforms to amplify impact. Moving forward, organizations must prioritize these competencies to enable Medical Affairs to thrive in a hybrid, insight-driven future.

And as AI, automation, and omnichannel become table stakes, CIOs must lead the organization in embracing a tech-forward, compliant, and insight-driven future

Traditional collaboration anchors Medical Affairs and Commercial teams at key milestones—but forward-looking organizations are layering in earlier, data-driven, and experience-focused touchpoints. It’s not about replacing the old with the new but building a seamless continuum of collaboration.