Study Finds that the Majority of Drug Companies Rely on Portfolio Size to Determine MSL Team Size

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The vast majority of pharmaceutical and medical device companies determine their medical science liaison (MSL) teams’ sizes by relying on the number of brands or products in their portfolio, according to a new study by Cutting Edge Information.

“Managing MSLs in a Global Medical Organization: Budget, Staffing and Compensation Benchmarks”

The study, “Managing MSLs in a Global Medical Organization: Budget, Staffing and Compensation Benchmarks,” found that 69% of surveyed life sciences companies use the number of brands or products to support when determining MSL team size. Although many companies operate with an organizational firewall between commercial and medical affairs departments, including MSL teams, the product portfolio is what generates inquiries from key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the first place.

“Sometimes, it boils down to simple math - the larger the portfolio, the more incoming physician requests,” said Elio Evangelista, Director of Operations at Cutting Edge Information. “These requests inevitably lead to a need for more MSLs and a larger medical information infrastructure.”

The second-most popular criterion for determining an MSL team’s size is the number of KOL relationships the team will support. According to Cutting Edge Information’s study, 62% of companies review the existing and target number of KOL relationships when determining the number of MSLs needed. Some therapeutic areas have more thought leaders and, therefore, require more MSLs to support them. For example, there may only be a handful of KOLs specializing in rare diseases in any particular country.

“Managing MSLs in a Global Medical Organization: Budget, Staffing and Compensation Benchmarks” (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/msl-benchmarks/) includes detailed data on budgets, staffing, structures and compensation packages for MSL teams located in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The study is designed to help MSL managers and medical affairs organizations: