For decades, the operating model was relatively clear:
R&D created the science. Commercial took it to market. Medical Affairs supported the space between them.
Medical Affairs reviewed content, answered scientific questions, supported HCP education and helped ensure responsible communication.
That role remains important, but it is no longer sufficient.
Scientific information is expanding rapidly. Treatment pathways are becoming more complex. Evidence now comes from clinical trials, real-world data, publications, safety surveillance, digital channels and field interactions. At the same time, organizations must understand the changing needs of physicians, patients, payers and health systems.
The challenge is no longer simply producing more medical content.
It is converting expanding evidence and fragmented insights into trusted knowledge that improves decisions across the enterprise.
A global shift is already underway
The Medical Affairs Professional Society’s vision for 2030 anticipates Medical Affairs moving from an execution-focused function to a more strategic one, leading evidence generation, representing the patient voice and translating external stakeholder needs into organizational action. (MAPS)
McKinsey similarly describes Medical Affairs as a potential “third pillar” alongside R&D and Commercial, with a wider role in evidence generation, medical engagement, access and enterprise leadership. (McKinsey & Company)
The shift is also visible in MedTech. At KARL STORZ, Medical & Scientific Affairs evolved beyond compliance and risk management to support evidence generation, KOL engagement, education and cross-functional strategy. (MAPS)
The direction is clear:
Medical Affairs is moving from supporting scientific activities to shaping how scientific knowledge informs the organization.
Why this matters particularly for India
India’s life-sciences sector is itself entering a new phase.
Its global position was built largely on manufacturing scale, generics and cost efficiency. Today, Indian companies are investing increasingly in novel drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, digital science and other innovation-led platforms.
BCG describes this as a transition from “scale to science.” Its 2026 assessment reports that more than ten novel drug assets originated in India during the previous decade and that pharmaceutical patent filings increased more than fourfold. (BCG)
A more science-led portfolio creates a different organizational challenge.
Complex products cannot be supported by promotional communication alone. They require deeper evidence interpretation, more sophisticated stakeholder education, clearer understanding of unmet needs and stronger coordination among Medical, R&D, Commercial, Market Access and regulatory teams.
Expectations for responsible communication are also rising. India’s UCPMP 2024 requires pharmaceutical information to be balanced, current, verifiable and capable of substantiation. Medical-device marketing is governed through UCMPMD 2024, which was further amended in September 2025 and April 2026. (Department of Pharmaceuticals)
As science becomes more complex, scientific governance becomes more strategically important.
Medical Affairs as an enterprise knowledge engine
An enterprise knowledge engine is not another document repository, chatbot or content-production unit.
It is an organizational capability that continuously connects evidence, stakeholder insights and medical expertise to create trusted knowledge that can be applied across the enterprise.
- Evidence enters
Clinical data, real-world evidence, publications, safety information and emerging research. - Insights enter
Questions, unmet needs and decision barriers identified through interactions with physicians, patients, payers, investigators and field teams. - Medical Affairs interprets
It evaluates the evidence, distinguishes meaningful insight from anecdote, provides clinical context and identifies where further evidence or clarification is required. - Trusted knowledge flows back
The resulting knowledge supports evidence strategy, medical education, HCP engagement, market access, product strategy, responsible commercial decisions and ultimately better patient care.
The transformation can be expressed simply:
Evidence + stakeholder insight + medical interpretation + governance = decision-ready knowledge
What must change in practice?
Becoming an enterprise knowledge engine does not mean Medical Affairs should own every piece of information or every organizational decision.
It means the function should become accountable for the integrity, context and appropriate application of scientific knowledge.
That requires four capabilities:
- Evidence orchestration
Connect clinical, real-world, published and internally generated evidence around the questions that matter to patients and healthcare systems. - Insight intelligence
Move beyond collecting field observations. Validate, aggregate and translate medical insights into evidence priorities and strategic decisions. - Knowledge governance
Ensure scientific knowledge is current, traceable, appropriately approved and suitable for the person, purpose and channel in which it will be used. - Knowledge activation
Make validated knowledge usable across Medical Education, HCP engagement, Market Access, R&D and other authorized functions, not merely stored in another repository.
AI makes this role more important
AI can retrieve literature, summarize documents, identify patterns and make knowledge easier to access.
But AI cannot independently determine whether fragmented organizational knowledge is current, sufficiently contextualized or appropriate for a particular use.
If outdated, duplicated or poorly governed information enters an AI system, the system can distribute the same weakness faster and at greater scale.
Medical Affairs therefore has an important role in defining:
- Trusted scientific sources
- Evidence hierarchies
- Medical context
- Content permissions
- Appropriate-use boundaries
- Human-review requirements
- Escalation pathways
- Knowledge-update responsibilities
The strategic question is not simply: “How can Medical Affairs use AI?”
It is: “How can Medical Affairs ensure that the scientific knowledge powering AI and enterprise decisions remains trustworthy?”
The next evolution
The future of Medical Affairs is not: Scientific support → Better scientific support
It is: Scientific support → Scientific leadership → Enterprise knowledge engine
For Indian pharma and MedTech companies moving from volume to value—and from scale to science—this evolution may become essential.
Because the next competitive advantage will not come only from generating better science.
It will also come from an organization’s ability to interpret that science, govern it responsibly and convert it into better decisions.
As Indian life sciences moves from scale to science, Medical Affairs must move from supporting the science to helping the enterprise understand, govern and act on it.
