Medical Affairs Unscripted | MSLs in Clinical Trial Enrollment

Medical Affairs Unscripted | The Role of Medical Affairs and MSLs in Clinical Trial Enrollment with Dan Hennessy, VP of Medical Affairs at Merus N.V.

Podcast

Feb 2, 2024

Episode 22 of the Medical Affairs Unscripted podcast series with Dan Hennessy, PhD.

Having a clinical trial that is properly supported and engaged is no easy feat, but accomplishing this can greatly improve the success of your asset.

In this episode, Peg Crowley-Nowick, PhD, MBA, President of Medical Affairs Consulting at Lumanity, and Dan Hennessy PhD, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Merus N.V., meet for a second time to discuss medical science liaison (MSL) and stakeholder engagement. They delve more specifically into the key role that Medical Affairs plays in accelerating and improving clinical trial enrollment and highlight how to use MSLs and a Field Medical team in different ways to ensure that you get the most value from the team, both from a US and a Global perspective. As they conclude, they explore what kinds of skills are required of a well-prepared Field Medical team and how to ensure they are properly prepared.

“From many of your podcasts you have the question about “Ah ha” moments. An “ah ha” moment with respect to Medical Affairs involvement in supporting clinical trials is that a very small team can make a very big impact in the feasibility stage. And when I say the feasibility stage, that’s that initial outreach, introducing yourself and getting an understanding of the basics of how they’re set up. Do they have a tumor board, do they have a multidisciplinary team that’s involved in diagnosis and trial and treatment decisions? So, in that stage of a clinical trial, an MSL would have a wider bandwidth to reach out and engage dozens and dozens of sites over the time period of maybe the three to four months where you might be in active feasibility.”

Dan Hennessy PhD