Every Medical Affairs team spends months of cross-functional work producing a scientific communication platform (SCP): the pillars, the communication imperatives, the carefully negotiated statements of evidence. It gets approved, circulated, and often shelved in a way that makes it hard for MSLs to access, and it often isn’t updated or delivered in a way that connects it to the most actively used materials.
The SCP is the foundational guide for your organization’s scientific exchange activities, and keeping it actively connected to your approved materials can strengthen strategic messaging alignment with scientific imperatives and scientific exchange activities.
What we are seeing.
We are seeing more detailed searches and natural-language questions. When we reviewed example search activity within Beacon by MSLs (163), two out of three (107 queries, or 66%) were full natural-language questions. Not keywords like “renal” or “pipeline,” but “What is the mechanism of action of Drug A?” and “Does Drug B cause more GI side effects than Drug C?” We anticipate the document interactions within Beacon to continue to grow, as our AI features enable MSLs to utilize their approved content libraries as their scientific exchange partner and not static content. This is where the opportunity to fully connect the organization’s SCP can become meaningful to Medical Affairs Teams.
What it looks like when your SCP becomes activated within your scientific exchange workflow.
A KOL emails a question. The MSL responds and inputs an anticipated follow-up question from the KOL into Beacon. The response in Beacon is anchored to the SCP: the relevant part of the core narrative, the statement of evidence that supports it, and the approved materials referenced in the response are accessible via one click and always centers around our AI approach of ensuring “MSL is in the loop” functionality for what can happen next.
The MSL is always in control and is supported by the approved content and associated scientific messaging that helps the MSLs build their relationships with KOLs. Approved materials are what an MSL presents, and the SCP is how the scientific narrative remains consistent.
Where Beacon fits.
Most Medical Affairs teams already have the pieces: an approved SCP, a library of approved materials, and CRM. What’s usually missing is the connection between them.
- Ask the way MSLs already ask. Natural-language search across your approved content library matches how two out of three MSL searches are already phrased.
- Answers anchored to the SCP. Responses trace back to the relevant narrative and statement of evidence, not just whichever document ranks closest.
- One click to the source. Every response links directly to the approved materials behind it.
- The MSL stays in the loop. AI supports the conversation, and the MSL decides what happens next.
Search is only the starting point. The same SCP foundation can extend to authoring support and, over time, to self-service HCP experiences, so your scientific story stays consistent wherever it shows up.
92% of Medical Affairs leaders indicated their companies have significant room to improve, or lack the tools and processes entirely, when it comes to delivering a personalized scientific narrative.
Source: MAPS Americas 2024 workshop poll and MSL Society & Alucio survey, 2023
Want to see more about the connectivity with SCPs and approved materials? See our on-demand recording of “AI & Scientific Exchange: What it Means for Medical Affairs” with Beacon’s product lead, Nick Henkel.
See your SCP in action
If your SCP is not being accessed or utilized by MSLs, let’s talk about what it looks like when these materials are fully connected. Schedule a walkthrough with the Beacon team, and we’ll show you how SCP-anchored search works with real MSL questions.
Learn more about Beacon, or connect with our team to see what modern scientific exchange looks like in practice.
Jeff Asada
Director, Medical Affairs & Field Enablement