Medical Advisor-Ideation

Job Description

Job Description

Job Summary

The Medical Advisor – Ideation & Portfolio Development will provide scientific and clinical leadership for the identification, evaluation, differentiation and development of new product opportunities across therapeutic areas.

The role will work closely with Portfolio, R&D, Clinical Development, Regulatory and other cross-functional teams to evaluate pipeline opportunities through comprehensive assessment of scientific literature, clinical evidence, treatment guidelines, competitive intelligence, global development pipelines and relevant medical/scientific databases.

The Medical Advisor will contribute across the end-to-end product journey—from ideation and opportunity evaluation through product selection, development, regulatory approval and readiness for launch, following which the product is transitioned to the respective Medical Affairs/Commercial teams.

Roles & Responsibilities

1. Pipeline Scouting & Ideation

• Continuously evaluate the global pharmaceutical and clinical development landscape to identify potential new product, molecule, indication, formulation and combination opportunities.
• Conduct structured searches across scientific literature, clinical trial registries, regulatory databases, treatment guidelines, competitive intelligence platforms and other relevant databases.
• Identify emerging mechanisms of action, evolving standards of care, unmet medical needs and therapeutic areas with potential relevance to the India portfolio.
• Generate scientifically differentiated product concepts based on clinical need, emerging evidence and competitive landscape.

2. Medical & Scientific Evaluation of Opportunities

• Lead comprehensive medical evaluation of pipeline opportunities in collaboration with the Portfolio team.
• Assess opportunities based on:
  • Unmet medical need and current standard of care
  • Target patient population and patient journey
  • Mechanism of action and biological rationale
  • Clinical efficacy and safety
  • Comparative clinical positioning
  • Global and Indian treatment guidelines
  • Development stage and probability of clinical success
  • Competitive and future treatment landscape
  • Potential differentiation in the Indian market
• Develop clear medical recommendations and scientific rationale for Go/No-Go product selection decisions.
• Present medical evaluations and recommendations to cross-functional teams and relevant governance/decision-making forums.

3. Portfolio Partnership

• Work closely with the Portfolio/Business Development teams to scientifically assess internal and external product opportunities.
• Provide the medical perspective for prioritisation and selection of differentiated portfolio opportunities.
• Support assessment of molecules, combinations, formulations, indications and lifecycle opportunities proposed for portfolio inclusion.
• Translate complex scientific and clinical evidence into clear strategic recommendations for portfolio decision-making.

4. Product Differentiation & R&D Collaboration

• Partner closely with R&D/Formulation Development teams to identify opportunities for meaningful product differentiation.
• Provide medical input into the development of:
  • Novel formulations
  • Fixed-dose combinations
  • Dose/strength optimisation
  • Drug-delivery approaches
  • New indications
  • Patient-centric product features
• Define the clinical and medical rationale for differentiation versus currently available standards of care and anticipated future competitors.
• Ensure proposed differentiation addresses a meaningful physician, patient or healthcare-system need rather than being purely formulation-driven.

5. Drug Development Support

• Provide medical and scientific inputs throughout the drug/product development process.
• Contribute to development strategy, target product profile and clinical development considerations wherever required.
• Provide inputs into study concepts, endpoints, patient populations, comparators and other clinically relevant aspects of development.
• Review and interpret emerging clinical data and assess its implications for the evolving product strategy.
• Collaborate with Clinical Development, R&D and Regulatory teams to address scientific or clinical questions arising during development.

6. Regulatory & Approval Support

• Provide medical inputs for regulatory strategy and submissions for new products/indications.
• Support scientific responses to regulatory queries and participate in regulatory/subject expert discussions wherever required.
• Ensure that the scientific positioning of the product remains aligned with available evidence and the proposed clinical use throughout the approval process.

7. Product Transition & Launch Handover

• Develop a clear medical product narrative covering unmet need, target patient, clinical value proposition, differentiation and appropriate positioning.
• Support medical readiness during the pre-launch phase.
• Once the product reaches the appropriate stage of approval/launch readiness, ensure structured handover of scientific strategy, evidence and product positioning to the respective Medical Affairs and launch teams.
• Provide scientific support during transition to ensure continuity from the original product concept to its intended clinical positioning.

Key Cross-Functional Interfaces

The role will work extensively with:

Portfolio / Business Development | R&D / Formulation Development | Clinical Development | Regulatory Affairs | Intellectual Property | Medical Affairs | Commercial/Marketing | Project Management and Senior Leadership

Key Skills & Attributes

• Strong scientific and clinical evaluation capabilities
• Ability to critically interpret clinical trials and medical literature
• Understanding of drug development and regulatory pathways
• Strong understanding of treatment guidelines and evolving standards of care
• Ability to assess unmet need, clinical differentiation and future competitive landscapes
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking
• Ability to integrate information from multiple scientific databases and sources into actionable recommendations
• Ability to translate science into portfolio and product-development decisions
• Intellectual curiosity and strong external/pipeline orientation
• Effective cross-functional collaboration in a matrix environment
• Strong written, presentation and stakeholder-management skills
• Ability to manage multiple therapeutic areas and product evaluations simultaneously

Qualifications

Qualifications

Educational Qualification & Experience

Educational Qualification

MBBS with M.D. Pharmacology/Medicine or full-time postgraduate qualification in an appropriate medical discipline.

Preferred Experience

2–5 years of relevant pharmaceutical industry experience in Medical Affairs, Portfolio Evaluation, Clinical Development, R&D interface, New Product Planning or related roles.

Experience in scientific evaluation of pipeline assets, new product ideation, product differentiation or cross-functional drug development would be an advantage.

Additional Information