Corporate Advisory Boards
Advisory boards in the life science industry
Life science companies use advisory boards to obtain insights on a drug, topic or therapeutic area from a variety of stakeholders, incl. healthcare providers, experts, patients, patient advocates and payers.
Companies use advisory boards to obtain their input throughout the entire drug development pipeline and to inform medical and clinical strategy and planing. Examples of topics advisory boards might provide expert input in are:
- Identification of unmet medical needs
- Development of clinical trial design, including issues such as selection of patient populations and risk management plans.
- Analysis and interpretation of clinical trial data
- Post-marketing study design, medical or patient educational measures, and life-cycle management of the drug once it is commercialization
Life science companies typically recruit carefully selected external experts for one of the therapeutic areas of relevance to the company for their advisory board.
Importance of advisory boards for medical affairs
The role of medical affairs in a pharmaceutical company has expanded from a support to a core business function, and therefore their need for information has increased. Medical advisory boards are one way to capture information and bring the external voice inside.
Advisory boards are particularly critical for MA teams as they provide non-binding, informed guidance on scientific, medical and business aspects along the entire drug development pipeline.
Effective advisory boards create actionable deliverables and provide value through strong, long-term relationships with medical professionals and are therefore a crucial tool for medical affairs.