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If you’ve been in pharma or biotech long enough, you probably remember what advisory boards used to look like: a Friday night dinner, a full-day session on Saturday, maybe a golf outing on Sunday. It was immersive, high-touch, and expensive -- but we had time. Time to explore, challenge, connect, and reflect. And socialize.
Today, the landscape has shifted. Advisory boards are shorter, often virtual or hybrid, and often squeezed into narrow time slots during major medical or patient conferences. That might sound like a loss. But it’s also a huge opportunity -- if you know how to adapt.
At ThinkGen, we’ve designed, moderated, and analyzed hundreds of these advisory boards across nearly every therapeutic category. While we don’t handle logistics or recruitment (we typically partner with other companies for that), we specialize in the elements that make or break these sessions: program design, expert facilitation, and insightful synthesis. Between myself, Deanna Whitlock , and Audrey Wu, our team has probably facilitated more advisory boards than just about any other marketing research agency out there.
So here’s what we’ve learned about how to run a great one in today’s environment.
Pharma advisory boards bring together external experts and stakeholders -- often KOLs, top clinicians, patients, payers, even disease-specific social media influencers -- to share insights that inform clinical strategy, trial design, medical education, and market readiness. They’re not just a checkbox, they’re a strategic tool.
Done well, they help you:
But here’s the catch: key stakeholders are busier than ever. Attendance is harder to secure. And if you’re not thoughtful about format, prep, and execution, you’ll walk away with shallow feedback instead of the strategic insight you need.
While 90% of boards used to be in-person, the majority of advisors today prefer a digital-first approach. In a recent survey, 97% of KOLs said virtual boards wouldn’t negatively impact collaboration. Many even worry that in-person attendance puts their patients at risk due to travel.
That’s why leading companies are moving to mixed formats -- blending live, virtual, hybrid, and asynchronous interactions across the calendar. With the right platform, asynchronous activities like surveys, document reviews, and threaded discussions can happen between live meetings, keeping momentum (and insight flow) going year-round.
Want to know the secret recipe? It’s not that complicated -- but you do have to follow the steps.
1. Start with a Clear Purpose Don’t gather a dozen experts just to “see what they think.” Be surgical. Are you validating educational materials? Mapping patient journeys? Interrogating trial endpoints? Pick your lane.
2. Keep the Agenda Focused but Flexible You’ve got 60–90 minutes. Maybe two hours if you’re lucky. Design an agenda with room for real discussion -- not just PowerPoint. And leave space for the conversation to surprise you.
3. Choose the Right Participants (and Enough of Them) You want 6–8 advisors. Any fewer, and you risk groupthink. Any more, and it’s a panel, not a discussion.
4. Prepare Like You’re Hosting Live TV Dry runs aren’t optional. Everyone -- moderator, presenters, internal observers -- needs to know the flow, the goals, and the sensitive spots. Get to the room early. Rehearse. Be prepared.
5. Facilitate with Intent A good moderator doesn’t just “ask questions.” They manage the group dynamic, draw out the quiet voices, keep the conversation on task and on time, and steer past the polite consensus to the real tension underneath.
6. Deliver a Real Summary, Not Just Raw Notes The report is your artifact. It should synthesize, not transcribe, what happened. Pull out themes, surface quotes, and offer actionable next steps. This is where so many teams drop the ball. The way we do it, reports are fast, high-level and strategic, often the result of a post meeting team debrief.
Earlier this year, we supported a European-based client preparing to launch a new therapy in the cardiology space. The team wanted to glean insights about their clinical trial design and results as well as about potential questions and barriers to adoption.
Working with a recruitment and logistics partner, we assembled a group of 8 top-tier cardiologists for an advisory board taking place during a major medical congress. We designed a tight 90-minute agenda split into three segments:
What made this session stand out wasn’t just the content -- it was the prep. We built pre-work into the process: short surveys and stimulus materials sent ahead of time. Advisors showed up ready. And the food and catering were excellent.
The result?
In short, the client walked away with direction -- not just data.
Advisory boards are among the most under-leveraged tools in our industry. Too often, they’re thrown together last-minute, treated as box-checking exercises. Often someone from the medical team - who is not a trained moderator - is the facilitator. But when done right, they’re strategic opportunities. They help you:
If you’re on a commercial, insights, or medical team, and you’re not using advisory boards as a strategic input, you’re leaving value on the table.
Advisory boards have changed. They’re shorter, more often conducted virtually, more tightly orchestrated than ever. But they’re still among the best ways to get direct-from-the-source insight.
So design them like you mean it. Facilitate them with intention. And treat the output like it’s the spark for your next big decision -- because it probably is.
Let’s make every minute count.
