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Medical Affairs Compliance Retainer
A monthly retained advisory service giving your team a direct line to expert compliance guidance. Ad hoc questions answered, high-risk materials pre-reviewed, and a monthly check-in to stay ahead of what's coming.
The compliance gap in medical affairs
Legal knows contract law. Regulatory knows the licence. But ABPI Code compliance — the rules governing how your medical affairs team operates — sits in an expertise gap that neither covers.
Every ad hoc question triggers a referral. Legal applies general principles. Regulatory applies the SmPC. Neither gives you a reliable ABPI Code opinion — and the team knows it, which is why the same questions keep coming back.
Materials reaching the Final Medical Signatory with fundamental compliance issues that should have been caught at briefing stage. Rework is costly, timelines slip, and relationships with commercial and marketing deteriorate with every cycle.
The medical affairs team understands the science. But the compliance requirements for a new indication — what counts as promotional, what HCP interaction rules apply, how congress activities need to be structured — is unfamiliar territory with no one to ask.
A new edition of the Code arrives. The team reads the summary. But understanding precisely what has changed, what it means for your specific activities, and what needs to be updated in your SOPs and processes — that work doesn't happen.
What's included each month
The retainer is structured so that compliance input happens at the point where it changes outcomes — not after the work is already done.
A set number of hours each month for the questions your team needs answered without scheduling a formal project. Material classification queries, HCP interaction questions, activity scoping, novel content format advice — answered by someone who knows the Code in depth, not in principle.
A structured monthly call to review patterns in what your team has been working on, flag emerging risk areas before they become problems, and cover any upcoming activities — congress, digital launches, new HCP programmes — where advance compliance input changes how the activity is designed.
Urgent questions — a launch material with an imminent sign-off deadline, an unexpected HCP request, a query from the ABPI — receive same business day responses. Compliance advice should not be the bottleneck on time-critical decisions.
For materials with significant compliance exposure — novel formats, borderline claims, new HCP interaction structures, patient organisation collaborations — a pre-review before the material enters your formal medical, legal, and regulatory process. Problems caught here are fixed quietly; problems found at sign-off are expensive.
When the ABPI publishes a new Code edition, a supplementary guidance note, or when a significant PMCPA panel ruling shifts the practical interpretation of a clause, your team receives a clear, practical briefing on what it means for your activities — not a generic summary you could find yourself.
Activity areas covered
What clients say
Having Anzal on retainer changed how our medical affairs team operates. Questions that used to create a two-week bottleneck get answered the same day. The team now front-loads compliance thinking instead of bolting it on at the end.
The monthly check-in alone is worth it — pattern recognition across everything we've been working on, early flags on what's coming, and a chance to ask the questions that don't fit neatly into a formal review.
Who it's for
No dedicated compliance function, or a compliance resource shared across multiple remits with no ABPI Code specialism.
Launch phases, congress seasons, or periods of significant HCP engagement activity where compliance demand spikes beyond the team's internal capacity.
Moving into an indication or channel type — digital, patient advocacy, NIS — where the ABPI Code requirements are different or less familiar.
Personally responsible for sign-off and looking for a senior sounding board on borderline materials before they reach the formal approval queue.
Following an ABPI case or PMCPA complaint, looking for ongoing compliance support to rebuild processes and reduce forward risk.
Making compliance decisions without visibility of how PMCPA panels have been ruling on similar activities over the past 12 to 18 months.
Frequently asked questions
Any ABPI Code compliance question relevant to your medical affairs activities — material classification, HCP interaction and hospitality rules, patient organisation collaboration requirements, digital and social content, congress and symposia activities, NIS study governance, and how to handle novel activity types the Code does not address explicitly.
Priority response time for retainer clients — typically same business day for urgent queries raised during business hours. Routine questions receive a response within 24 hours. The retainer is structured around the reality that compliance questions in medical affairs are often time-sensitive.
A minimum 3-month initial term, then rolling monthly. The structure and hours are discussed on the discovery call — the retainer is sized to your team's likely usage, not a fixed package that may be too large or too small. After the initial term, you can continue month-to-month or cancel with notice.
Yes — hours and scope are reviewed at the 3-month mark based on actual usage. Teams that have used less than anticipated can adjust down; teams that have found value in expanding can increase. The aim is a retainer that reflects your team's real compliance rhythm, not a fixed SKU.
Book a discovery call to discuss your team's activity profile, current compliance gaps, and what a retainer structured around your needs would look like. No commitment required at this stage.
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