Accelerating MLR: Why Marketers Can’t Afford to Ignore This AI Shift 

A Medical Affairs Perspective 

In today’s competitive pharmaceutical landscape, speed and precision are everything. Yet for many brand teams, the Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) review process remains a persistent bottleneck—slowing down content delivery, draining resources and creating friction between creativity and compliance. 

That’s why Michael DeLuca’s perspective is so timely—and so critical. 

As the leader of EVERSANA’s Global Medical Affairs and Medical Information teams, Michael has extensive experience supporting the medical review of promotional and nonpromotional materials. He’s also been at the forefront of developing and refining EVERSANA ORCHESTRATE™ MLR, the newest AI-powered platform that is transforming the review process today.  

His insights offer a rare behind-the-scenes look at how this technology is evolving—and why marketers should be paying close attention. 

Why This Matters for Marketers 

Marketers are under pressure to deliver more content faster, and with greater accuracy. But the traditional MLR process often stands in the way. “If materials are not annotated well, it can slow down the review process or even lead to rejection,” Michael explained. That’s where AI comes in. 

EVERSANA ORCHESTRATE MLR helps marketers get content into the MLR process faster and with more consistent, compliant annotations. “Better content in should be faster content through the process,” he said. “It creates consistency and reduces the need for reviewers to re-verify data sets.” 

For marketers, that means fewer delays, fewer rejections, and more time to focus on strategy and storytelling. 

A Platform Built with Marketers in Mind 

Michael was involved from the early stages of the platform’s development, helping shape how claims are tagged and organized. “We were looking at other solutions,” he said, “but ultimately decided we could build this ourselves with the right partners.” 

He emphasized that the platform is designed to support content creators—not replace them. “It still requires some human oversight,” he noted. “But once you have that claims library built, you can quickly annotate new materials and get them into the system faster.” 

Real-World Impact 

Michael’s experience as both a reviewer and strategist give him a unique vantage point. He’s seen firsthand how poor planning and inconsistent vendor quality can derail even the best marketing plans. “Some vendors were really good… others didn’t even annotate, and that slowed down the whole process,” he said. “This tool can create consistency across your content creators.” 

He also pointed out that marketers often don’t realize how much control they have over the MLR process. “My biggest complaint as a reviewer was the lack of planning,” he said. “You can’t drop five slide decks and seven other pieces of material in the same week and expect a smooth review.” 

Advice for Marketing Leaders 

Michael’s advice is clear: “Examine your pain points within your MLR process. If part of that lag is how quickly materials are getting in and how accurate they are, that’s where a solution like this really comes into play.” 

He also encouraged marketers to think beyond their own teams. “You may have an agency of record, but you might also have five or six other providers submitting content. You need consistency across all of them.” 

What’s Next 

While the platform’s impact on reviewers — medical, legal, and regulatory — is still being evaluated, Michael is optimistic. “If the claims library is good and the annotations are accurate, the review should speed up,” he said. “But it still requires oversight and management.” 

As EVERSANA continues to refine its integration with platforms like Veeva and make more enhancements, the future of MLR looks faster, smarter, and more marketer-friendly than ever before.