October 2026Dataset Refreshed: Expanded to 15.17M+ Unique Contacts
[email protected]+1 727-617-0017

What is medical affairs in pharma?

Also called: Medical Affairs Director Persona, medical science liaison, MSL

Medical affairs is the scientific function in a pharmaceutical, biotech or MedTech company that shares clinical and scientific information with healthcare professionals, separate from sales and marketing. Medical science liaisons (MSLs) are its field team.

By John Britton, VP of Marketing, MedicalProspects · Updated November 4, 2026 · Buyers & Committees

Why it matters for healthcare sales and marketing

Medical affairs teams engage experts, run advisory boards, support investigator-initiated research and handle scientific questions. They buy data and services for identifying experts and planning scientific engagement, and they must stay separate from promotion.

How it works

  • MSLs hold scientific conversations with key opinion leaders.
  • Medical information answers clinicians' questions about products.
  • Evidence generation supports research and publications.
  • Separation from commercial: medical affairs doesn't promote; companies keep the functions apart for compliance.
Comparison of medical affairs (scientific exchange, experts and KOLs, research and publications, no promotion) and commercial teams (promotion, prescribers, campaigns and sales).
Medical affairs and commercial teams serve different purposes and are kept separate.

Example

Illustrative scenario. Ahead of a launch, a medical affairs team maps the experts in its therapeutic area: who publishes, runs trials and speaks at meetings. MSLs plan scientific exchange with them, while the commercial team builds separate prescriber audiences for promotion.

Common mistakes

  • Treating medical affairs as sales. Messaging must be scientific, not promotional.
  • Using commercial lists for scientific engagement. Experts are identified differently.
  • Blurring roles. Keep medical and commercial outreach clearly separate.

Related terms

  • Key Opinion Leader (KOL)A key opinion leader (KOL) is a clinician whose expertise and reputation shape how peers practice, for example through research, publications, guideline committees, teaching and conference talks.
  • HCP Reference DataHCP reference data is the master list of healthcare professionals and organizations, with stable IDs and affiliations, that a life sciences company uses as the single source of truth in its CRM, sales operations and compliance reporting.
  • AMA Physician Data Restriction Program (PDRP)The AMA Physician Data Restriction Program (PDRP) lets U.S. physicians opt out of having their prescribing data made available to pharmaceutical sales representatives and their immediate supervisors.
  • HCP List (Healthcare Professional List)An HCP list is a database of individual healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and nurses, with identifiers, specialties and contact details used for sales and marketing. Its counterpart, an HCO list, covers healthcare organizations.

Put it to work

← Back to the healthcare GTM glossary