As a discipline, regulatory affairs covers a broad range of specific skills and occupations. Under the best of circumstances, it is composed of a group of people who act as a liaison between the potentially conflicting worlds of government, industry, and consumers to help make sure that marketed products are safe and effective when used as advertised. People who work in regulatory affairs negotiate the interaction between the regulators (the government), the regulated (industry), and the market (consumers) to get good products to the market and to keep them there while preventing bad products from being sold.
The range of products covered is enormous, including foods and agricultural products, veterinary products, surgical equipment and medical devices, in vitro and in vivo diagnostic tools and tests, and drugs (which range from small molecules to proteins).
Drug Regulatory Affairs refers to all aspects within the pharmaceutical development process and how they are subject to various degrees of regulation. Regulatory Affairs (RA), also called Government Affairs, is a profession within regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, energy, and banking