Interview – Beata Niechoda, Australian Pharmaceutical Physicians Association – Medical Affairs Leaders Forum Asia 2014
By NextLevel Life Sciences - June 13, 2014

Leading up to NextLevel Pharma’s 2nd Annual Medical Affairs Leaders Forum Asia, we are conducting email interviews with selected members of our prestigious speaker panel to learn more about their thoughts on this vital issue.

*Opinions below are those only of the individual and do not reflect upon corporate strategy or positioning.

For more information regarding NextLevel Pharma’s Medical Affairs Leaders Forum Asiaclick here.

Beata Niechoda, Executive Committee, Australian Pharmaceutical Physicians Association (APPA)

NLP: What do you think makes the current medical affairs environment in Asia Pacific so challenging for pharmaceutical & medical device companies?

Beata Niechoda: The APAC is a dynamically growing and fast evolving region. Some of the challenges of working in the region include: fast evolving, diverse regulatory and legislative frameworks, diverse approaches to compliance and implementation of international benchmarks. Technological advances such as provision of knowledge and information in a virtual way may not always be possible in all jurisdictions.

NLP: Which trends have you seen on the ways in which the pharma & biotech sector approach KOLS and stakeholders in the APAC region over the past 5 years?

Beata Niechoda: The approach to KOLs and other stakeholders such as patients, their families and patients is adapting to the modern way of living and interacting with on-line programmes and communication systems. These days, people seek information on-line and Pharma is catching up with this. In not so distant future, most of the information exchange will happen on-line and patient medical histories will be stored virtually. Pharma will need to find suitable position to remain profitable, complainant and relevant to stakeholders' needs.

NLP: How much do you think the medical affairs & MSL roles in the pharma & device sector are increasing their influence?

Beata Niechoda: The technological advancements enable Medical Affairs to take a prime position in being a key provider of easily accessible, high quality, relevant medical information about Pharma products. Far too often however, commercial applications reach stakeholders before the MA applications. There is a lot to be done to improve this situation. MA have a unique advantage here and I'm keen to see us realise this.

NLP: What’s the best thing for you about working in medical affairs right now?

Beata Niechoda: Medical Affairs has a unique opportunity to extend its value proposition to become a trusted provider of fast accessible, high quality, medical information. Technological advances enable this. I am keen to see Medical Affairs in the APAC region realise this unique opportunity and to maximise the chance of being a trusted information provider by doctors, nurses, patients and their families.

NLP: Why is this Asia Pacific Medical Affairs Leaders Forum event a good idea for people to attend in your eyes?

Beata Niechoda: Meeting such as this one create an excellent opportunity to increase awareness, inspire and motivate to take more energetic steps to maximise value proposal of Medical Affairs in the Pharma industry. I look forward to networking with my colleagues in the region and to exchange the thoughts and ideas. We can all learn from each other and advance our role in the Pharma.