Indian Medical Advisors Summit (INMAS) 2014, recently held in Mumbai, was a first-of-its-kind initiative that has been undertaken in India for assisting medical affairs personnel to interact, learn, share new ideas and case studies amongst this evolving community. The summit was convened by Dr Amit Dang, Founder and Director, Geronimo Healthcare Solutions. It was attended by over 100 delegates from India, as well as global MNC pharma companies and post graduate students of pharmacology.
Dr Viraj Suvarna, Medical Director, Boehringer Ingelheim, keynote speaker, set the tone by saying that the role of medical advisors was not a dilemma between medical affairs and business, but that they should own the business and their actions must flow from this sense of ownership. Dr Amit Garg, Head, Emerging Markets, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, explained how social media can be utilised to initiate, recruit and alter the outcomes of late phase studies. Dr Ganesh Kadhe, AVP – Medical Affairs and Clinical Operations, Wockhardt, speaking on internal and external stakeholder management, emphasised the need for Good Medical Affairs Practices (GMAP). He stressed that medical advisors should also excel in strategic thinking, basic commercial skills, cross-functional collaboration and teamwork.
Dr Prashant Desai, Director – Medical Affairs, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, J&J, spoke on “How to make credible scientific presentations” by incorporating the six pillars of credibility – Ideation, Information, Influence, Integrity, Impact and Ignition.
Dr Aju Abraham Varghese, Sr Medical Manager, Regional Medical Affairs, Pfizer India explained the role of field based Regional Medical Advisor (RMA) and their ability to respond to medical queries in real time, adding much value to the efforts of field force. Dr Rohit Arora, Director – Marketing (Paediatrics), Sanofi Pasteur India, spoke on, “What medical advisor needs to know about regulatory expertise and New Drug Advisory Committee (NDAC) expectations.
Dr Santosh Jha, Director – Medical Regulatory, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, talked about Good Promotional Practices (GPP) and marketing or science, what should be medical advisor’s priority? He stressed that GPP has been created to ensure that pharma companies should operate under the framework of high values of integrity and ethics keeping patient safety as its topmost priority.
Dr K Karunakar Reddy, Head of Medical Affairs, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories provided insight on off-label, as well as on-label use of medicines and on the importance of medical advisors to be updated on various regulations across the globe. Dr Vinita Satyavrat, Head – Scientific and Medical Affairs, Abbott Nutrition International India, gave insight about the driving forces and challenges faced the Indian nutraceutical industry and the competencies and skill sets needed by medical advisors venturing into nutraceutical sector.
Sharad Tyagi, Managing Director, Boehringer Ingelheim told the audience about “What industry expects from the medical fraternity.” He said that medical affairs is the only function in a pharma company which can truly bridge the gaps between science and business. According to him, they are probably the only people who understand the “Why”, “What” and “How” of pharma business.
Dr Qayum Mukaddam, Director – Medical Services, Abbott Healthcare summarised the take home messages for the delegates from the summit and gave them insight into career perspectives for medical advisors.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai