24. The Glue That Holds It Together: Craig Granowitz on the Real Role of Medical Affairs

About this episode

Craig Granowitz discusses the pivotal role of Medical Affairs in the pharmaceutical industry and its importance in connecting various organizational functions.

Craig Granowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, has done something almost no one else in the industry has — he has held senior leadership roles on both the commercial and medical sides of the pharmaceutical enterprise. He started as a sales rep, rose through marketing and general management to lead a $2.5 billion business, and then made a deliberate move into Medical Affairs — where he built global organizations at Schering-Plough, Merck, Amarin, and Lexicon. That dual vantage point is what makes this conversation different. In this episode, Scott Thompson sits down with Craig to explore what Medical Affairs looks like when you have sat in every seat. The result is one of the clearest frameworks we have heard for understanding where Medical Affairs sits in the organization — not the center, not the foundation, but the common glue that holds R&D, Commercial, and every major external stakeholder together. In this episode: Why Craig describes Medical Affairs as "the common glue" — and what that means for how MA leaders should position their function internally The three attributes he looks for in every Medical Affairs professional: curiosity…

People in this episode

Host: Scott Thompson

Guest: Craig Granowitz

Topics covered

• Medical Affairs
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• Leadership
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Organizational Health

Keywords

• Medical Affairs
• Leadership
• Pharmaceuticals
• Cross-Functional Teams
• Organizational Structure

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Schering-Plough, Merck, Amarin

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