Building a medical affairs function from the ground up is one of the most exciting and perhaps overwhelming milestones a life sciences company can face. The pressure to engage stakeholders, create compelling communications, and prepare for regulatory milestones can leave even the most visionary teams stretched thin.
At JB Ashtin, we’ve partnered with emerging companies navigating these challenges with clarity, confidence, and heart. Here are 3 critical lessons we’ve learned, and why choosing the right strategic partner early can change everything.
Lesson 1: Don’t Just Tell Your Story—Craft It With Purpose
It’s not enough to publish. It’s not enough to share data.
In today’s competitive environment, success demands a story: a cohesive, credible, emotionally resonant story that carries through advisory boards, publications, congresses, and FDA meetings.
Each message must build on the last, creating a momentum that makes your science unforgettable.
What you can do:
Partner with a team that thinks deeply about your positioning. You need scientific advisors who can distill complexity into clarity while connecting technical data to real-world impact without losing nuance or credibility.
Lesson 2: Stakeholder Engagement Is a Skill—Not a Side Project
Engaging healthcare providers (HCPs) and key opinion leaders (KOLs) can’t be a checkbox on a launch plan; it must be a strategic priority from day 1. Relationships need to be genuine, not transactional. The feedback you gather can be mission-critical to informing your publications, communications, and regulatory strategies.
What you can do:
Find partners who don’t just coordinate logistics but connect authentically and consider every detail important. Those early conversations shape not only your messaging but the very foundation of trust you’ll need when it matters most.
Lesson 3: Regulatory Preparation Isn’t Last-Minute Work
Successful interactions with regulators like the FDA aren’t about rolling the dice or praying for a good reviewer. They’re about deep, early preparation. That means anticipating likely questions, proactively aligning your team’s narrative, inviting the right advisors, and ensuring that every submission or meeting is grounded in a clear, defensible scientific platform. Equally important is entrusting your partner to communicate with your most important advisors professionally and strategically, building trust through seamless contracting so you can collaborate with all your stakeholders without worrying about logistical details.
What you can do:
Work with advisors who act decisively: those who not only adhere to timelines but also strengthen your story at every stage. Strategic preparation months ahead of key meetings makes the difference between a good conversation and a transformative one.
Partner with a team (like us) to create impactful, easily interpretable figures for regulatory documents that effectively communicate complex concepts. We can assist with briefing packages and other content for advisory/preparation meetings; handle the unplanned ad hoc requests along the way; and arrange and manage every pre-, peri- and post-logistical detail so you can focus on the messages and data.
Behind every successful scientific journey is a team that believes as deeply in the mission as they do in the milestones.
At JB Ashtin, we’re committed to helping you build trust, inspire confidence, and make a lasting impact on patients’ lives.
Because in the end, it’s not just about the work, it’s about the difference we create together.