When Commercial Becomes Clinically Strategic, What Is Medical Affairs For?

Published 15 August 2026

Author(s): Christine Ong

When Commercial roles start looking more clinically strategic and Medical Affairs roles start getting closer to adoption and business outcomes, the old lines get harder to see.

A recent Novartis Precision Medicine Liaison posting was forwarded to me by someone on the Commercial side at Novartis. It caught my attention because it felt less like one unusual role and more like a signal of where the market may be heading.

The role sits within Marketing and is designated Field Non-Sales. Yet the responsibilities include translating Medical Affairs priorities into field strategy, delivering Medical Affairs–approved scientific education, engaging healthcare professionals, gathering insights, identifying care gaps, and translating evolving science into action.

Then it goes further: diagnostic workflows, system-level implementation, stakeholder alignment, KPIs, and adoption.

So I asked a simple question on LinkedIn: Medical Affairs or Commercial?