Objective:The purpose of this survey was to identify the roles,responsibilities and skills of medical science liaisons(MSLs) in Japan. In addition,we compared to the prior survey results in 2011,2013 and 2015.Method:We contacted 47 pharmaceutical companies with a questionnaire survey on MSLs which included 22 items and analyzed the anonymized results using a web response system.Results:The total number of MSLs increased compared to prior surveys(ranged from 0 to 110). Many companies need MSLs with medical professional qualifications and sophisticated medical expertise. The roles and responsibilities MSLs were expected to perform included managing thought leaders(TL)and/or key opinion leaders (KOL)and implementing medical strategies. On the other hand, issues reported included management of MSLs and cooperation with other stakeholders in the company,and a still low level of recognition of MSLs.Conclusion:The roles of MSL are diverse,and while their activities and status are becoming established they are not yet unified across companies. It is recommended that at the earliest opportunity the roles,responsibilities and key performance indicators(KPI)of MSLs are defined,and educational programs established so that they can act as effective liaisons with medical professionals.

Objective: The purpose of this survey was to identify the roles, organizational structure, responsibilities, recruitment, skills, performance indicators and future trends of Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs). In addition, we compared the trend of changes with past surveys.Method: We contacted 52 pharmaceutical companies with a questionnaire survey on MSLs which included 28 items and analyzed the anonymized results using a web response system in Japan.Results: Responses were received from 40 companies (76.9%). The range of MSLs in each company was 0 to 80, the average number for companies withone or more MSLs was 23.6 (median was 13.0). Except for one company, the definition of “MSL” was generally the same. Except for one company, MSLs operated independently of the sales promotion activities. One MSL was responsible for an average of 21 Key Opinion Leader/Key Thought Leaders (KOL/KTL). The key performance indicators (KPI) for MSL activities mainly focused on quantitative indicators such as the number of information collections from KOL/KTL. On the other hand, qualitative indicators were also incorporated suchas feedback from KOL/KTL. “Knowledge of clinical medicine” and “Communication skills” were necessary skills for all companies. 41.9% of companies had an in-house certification program. Some companies will retain and/or decrease the number of MSLs in the future. MSLs were required to have advanced medical expertise as well as medical professional qualifications, and it was confirmed that there are various options for career plans such as MA, R&D, and promotional departments. No matter what the MSL’s therapeutic area (TA), many companies had high expectations for their activities.Conclusion: The current status of expected mission and responsiblities, KPI, size and career plans for MSL were revealed. Companies want MSL’s to play a central role in the inplementation of medical strategies and contribute to internal and external stakeholders.

Objective: To identify the organizational structure and medical contributions of Medical Affairs/Medical Science Liaison (MA/MSL) and its impact on the spread of the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection.Method: We conducted a web-based survey for 45 pharmaceutical companies based in Japan. The outcome of 43 questions related to organizational structure, business activities, key performance indicators (KPI), and indicators of medical contribution were analyzed and compared.Results: Responses were received from 43 pharmaceutical companies (95.6%; 26 Japanese and 17 foreign). The total number of MSLs exceeded 1,000 with an average of 30.1 MSLs/company. MSLs supervised an average of 21.8/MSL Key Opinion Leaders/Key Thought Leaders (KOLs/KTLs). There were eight MSL organizations per company on average, and Phase II/III had the most number of MSL organizations. Further, 22 companies (56.4%) had MSL organizations in the oncology area. All the companies were independent from departments mainly engaged in "sales and promotion activities," and the most common KPI was “collection insight from KOL/KTL.” Despite having medical qualifications and highly specialized degrees, training was provided continuously to improve expertise. Based on the life cycle of products, Japanese companies are promoting evidence generation and medical events with KOL/KTL supported by internal and external insights and foreign companies are promoting medical-education activities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of “in person” activities have significantly decreased and that of "online" activities have increased considerably, and this trend might continue even after the end of the pandemic.Conclusion: The organizational structure and medical contribution of MA/MSL are partially different between Japanese and foreign companies. MSL continued to increase; however, the organization and activities were affected by the product.