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

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, tenacity, and courage — and why genuine curiosity drives the other two How to assess the health of a Medical Affairs organization from the inside, starting with cross-functional meetings The leadership challenge of building trust while stressing the system with audacious goals — without losing the harmony you built Why in the era of AI, the most human leaders will be the most effective — and what AI simply cannot conceive of Connect with Craig Granowitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-granowitz-a43878101/ Connect with Scott Thompson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/medical-excellence/ OnPoint: The Medical Excellence Podcast delivers insightful conversations on the most pressing issues facing top Medical Affairs professionals. Listen to stay ahead of industry trends and be inspired by leaders shaping the future of Medical Affairs. 00:00 — Introduction: Craig Granowitz and the View From Every Seat 03:18 — Starting in Sales: What a Sales Rep Really Learns 09:00 — From Marketing to Medical: The Career Pivot That Changed Everything 28:00 — Medical Affairs as the Common Glue of the Organization 32:36 — How Do You Know If Medical Affairs Was a Good Investment? 35:20 — Curiosity, Tenacity, and Courage: The Three Attributes That Define Great MA Teams 39:03 — What a Healthy Medical Affairs Organization Looks Like From the Inside 43:00 — Building Trust While Stressing the System: The Leadership Balancing Act 53:56 — In the Era of AI, the More Human You Are, the Better