After a tumultuous period for businesses across the globe, regulatory professionals have their hands full. Their teams are tasked with managing global expansions and getting products to market faster than ever before, while navigating the new complexities of keeping existing products on the shelf.
Simultaneously, they are answering demands for greater transparency and supporting increasingly ambitious corporate sustainability initiatives.
Amid mounting pressure on the work they do, the role of regulatory affairs teams has been elevated within most organizations. But regulatory professionals still feel they are not treated as true strategic decision makers in the business.
Moving forward, they want to be brought into decision-making earlier, and given more resources – both in terms of people and technology – to cope with growing workloads. Companies are investing in regulatory affairs, but not at the pace required in the rapidly evolving regulatory environment. But growth is not the only goal – companies are adopting a more holistic view of success through goals such as expanding their company’s sustainability commitments or increasing transparency. These priorities signal an expansion of regulatory affairs to incorporate more holistic product stewardship.
