Predicting 2025 Trends

“As genAI continues to grow in availability, we can expect to see organizations experimenting with applications in DTP models. It has begun showing its chops in decreasing timelines to personalized content development, and I expect we will see even more activity there in 2025. In general, AI can also be used in pharmaceutical marketing to more quickly analyze the vast amounts of patient data that’s available and more precisely predict where individuals are in their care journey. This presents an opportunity in DTP to better tailor engagement activities to identify when subsets of patients may be ready to engage in DTP support resources, driving personalized brand engagement forward, and better meeting the needs of the patient in treatment access.”

“Pharma’s marketing and communications media mix will adopt a more adaptable, data-driven strategy in 2025, moving beyond conventional channels. Brands will rely on AI-driven analytics and omnichannel strategies to guide investment in emerging platforms, ensuring personalized video content resonates with diverse patient segments. Video advertising will continue to gain prominence, integrating real-time feedback to refine messaging. Authentic storytelling will become more prevalent, increasing patient engagement. Instead of going extinct, traditional media will be reimagined as a component of a comprehensive, multichannel ecosystem that offers quantifiable results, improved compliance, and deep connections.”

“The rise of Direct-to-Patient (DTP) models and expanding direct-to-consumer (DTC) digital efforts mark a significant shift in pharma’s approach to patient engagement. To succeed, understanding the identity layer is critical. Key trends for 2025 include:

• Growth in DTC Digital Efforts: Pharma is heavily investing in digital DTC channels to meet patients online, delivering personalized experiences. Platforms like Lilly Direct demonstrate how DTP models enhance access, adherence, and patient relationships.
• The Role of Identity: Accurate, compliant identity resolution enables unified patient views for personalized outreach, while safeguarding data privacy and consent.
• Privacy and Consent: Trust depends on strong privacy practices, transparent data use, and adherence to regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CPRA.
• Seamless Patient Experiences: Integrating consented first-party data with advanced identity solutions enables personalized communication, efficient delivery, and proactive support.”

“Throughout 2025, we will see more brands embrace the adoption of direct-to-patient models. Why? Because it’s a better way – for many disease states – to drive patient engagement and bring an Amazon-like experience to patients. We’re already seeing some big brands’ stand-up programs, especially in the GLP-1 market, but I think we’re going to see more brands embrace direct-to-patient models because of the connectivity, analytics and, most importantly, experience it can produce for both HCPs and patients. It creates an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to cut out the “middleman,” reducing patient costs and establishing direct and closer relationships with patients.”

“Direct-to-Patient (DTP) models will surge in prominence as pharma sharpens its focus on delivering more personalized, accessible care to meet evolving consumer expectations. As described in Syneos Health’s 2025 Health Trends report, vast new sources of patient experience data (PED) and advanced digital health tools are deepening insights into patient experiences and reshaping healthcare delivery toward more tailored, responsive pathways. AI-powered predictive insights will help pharma identify patient needs earlier and optimize DTP programs for efficiency and impact.”

“Pharma’s embrace of direct-to-patient (DTP) models reflects a larger shift in healthcare. Patients increasingly demand the convenience, personalization, and efficiency found in retail and tech, positioning pharma as a leader in making healthcare the final frontier for consumerization transformation. Additionally, HCP deserts are increasing and supporting patient access is more important than ever before. These growing opposing trends enable pharma to step into an unexpected leadership role in ensuring equitable access to patient education and support, using digital-first models and virtual care partnerships to bridge gaps and reach patients when and where they need it most.”

“2025 is the year that we will start seeing multimodal AI models put to use for meaningful patient support scenarios. Access to contextual, Just-In-Time, informed medical knowledge for patients has always required calling a doctor. With carefully-trained LLMs, that intelligence can be made available to patients – on their phone – with the ability to interpret video, audio, and imagery. GenAI drastically increases the speed at which these (and other tools) can be developed and therefore delivered, as Claude and ChatGPT continue to improve their ability to write and test code at scale. On the consumer side, these tools are already being used to create deeply-engaging games that these patients will be playing in Q4 2025.”

“In today’s landscape, patients want to be active decision makers of their healthcare journeys. Digital platforms such as Pfizer’s PfizerForAll have seen biopharma’s enter the DTP arena, offering patients greater transparency and access to information. With patients in the driver’s seat accelerating the need for biopharma’s to expand their DTP offerings, we anticipate more power in the hands of the patient in the year ahead!”

“By the end of next year, I envision generative AI revolutionizing HCP marketing by delivering highly personalized content that anticipates providers’ needs. I think that advanced segmentation will be pivotal, leveraging claims data to precisely target providers actively managing specific conditions. Omni-channel campaigns will also ensure cohesive messaging across digital, social, and in-person interactions, all powered by AI-optimized strategies.

Conversational AI tools could also further streamline communication, enabling real-time, tailored interactions with providers. AI-driven trigger emails will enhance engagement by delivering timely follow-ups based on specific HCP actions. Together, I think these advancements will drive highly efficient, data-driven campaigns that maximize ROI while fostering stronger, more meaningful relationships with healthcare providers in a dynamic and evolving market.”

“Looking into Sermo’s crystal ball for the end of 2025, we predict HCP marketing will undergo significant advancements driven by the potential to leverage real-time analytics and AI for more precise targeting. We expect more granular HPC profiling and real-time access to digital interactions (and HCP feedback!) to refine strategies.

However, challenges still remain – pharma marketers will need to balance automation with human interaction to maintain authenticity, comply with regulations, and avoid overwhelming HCPs with excessive outreach.”

“The continued evolution and adoption of tools such as AI will continue to drive massive change across the industry, and we’re going to see brands leveraging new AI and machine learning (ML) tool sets to drive efficiencies and enhance speed to market.”

“Traditional healthcare marketing has always put HCP and DTC in separate silos. We predict that in 2025, the HCP-DTC wall is coming down. No longer will HCP marketing be limited to independent strategies like contextual interest and claims-based targeting. What’s happening with the consumer, and in DTC marketing, will become key datasets in the enhancement of HCP direct marketing.”

“By the end of 2025, I think we’ll see a significant increase in the number of brands using AI and advanced analytics to synchronize HCP and direct-to-consumer marketing.

AI enables us to break away from our reliance on historic claims and medical data that forces us to reactively target and prioritize HCP audiences based on past prescribing behaviors, or the patients they saw last year; instead, it uses those sources to accurately predict future patient care milestones, so we can focus brand marketing on those HCPs (and their patients) approaching brand conversion opportunities – based on the needs of the patient population they are personally treating.”

“HCP marketing approaches remain years behind the state-of-the-art in consumer marketing. The video games industry, for example, has been utilizing AI for enhanced content targeting for over a decade. They’ve been unleashing AI on massive volumes of collected data to deeply understand user behavior and intent to perfectly time content delivery to individual users. In 2025, that gap will close further.”

“By the end of 2025, HCP marketing will be defined by precision targeting, actionable insights, and seamless, privacy-compliant data integration.

Privacy remains critical, with strategies like tokenization and anonymization ensuring compliance with evolving regulations while enabling advanced analytics. Integrating identity resolution with AI will further enhance marketing efforts, allowing predictive models to uncover trends, optimize targeting, and deliver tailored messaging.”

“By 2025, AI-driven omnichannel marketing will set a new standard for HCP activation. We see predictive analytics evolving into something much more like actual sales “intelligence” – that is, a multi-dimensional understanding not only of individual preferences but also personal behaviors and motivators that, when combined, will make it possible to go beyond reacting to anticipating the ever-changing needs and expectations of HCPs and patients.”