At Veeva Commercial Summit Europe, we spoke with Andreas Gerloff, Director of Medical Excellence Operations at Daiichi Sankyo Europe, about the strategic evolution of medical affairs and its growing influence across the pharmaceutical enterprise.
Gerloff emphasized that medical affairs has shifted far beyond its historical role as a support function, noting that deeper involvement in brand and strategic planning has elevated the function to a true peer alongside R&D and commercial. He shared that alignment on shared objectives and success metrics remains an industry-wide gap, particularly when demonstrating how medical activities contribute to broader business outcomes.
Discussing the rising complexity of therapies and the pressure for rapid insights, Gerloff highlighted the growing importance of insight generation as a core value driver. He noted that while companies collect insights across channels—MSLs, advisory boards, medical information—the challenge lies in connecting these data streams and translating them into timely action. The need for agility, especially in large global organizations, remains significant.
He also introduced ongoing industry work around medical impact measurement, explaining that no single metric defines value. Instead, he underscored a continuum spanning objectives, activities, belief change, behavioral change, and patient outcomes. This multifaceted approach, he said, is essential as companies seek a clear return on investment from expanded medical functions.
Gerloff urged the industry to prepare for a future shaped by AI, pointing to IQVIA data showing that more than half of physicians already use GenAI for scientific information. “If our customers increasingly go to publicly available GenAI for answers, we need to think hard about how we ensure accurate information reaches those tools,” he said.
This content is sponsored by Veeva Systems.
Moe Alsumidaie is Chief Editor of The Clinical Trial Vanguard. Moe holds decades of experience in the clinical trials industry. Moe also serves as Head of Research at CliniBiz and Chief Data Scientist at Annex Clinical Corporation.
