How can pharmaceutical companies harness the potential of AI without compromising accuracy or patient safety? What does it really mean to put patients at the center of drug development? And in an increasingly crowded healthcare market, how can marketers make sure they’re reaching the right audiences?
These are just a few of the questions industry leaders wrestled with at Fierce Pharma Week 2026, held September 14 through 17 in Philadelphia.
Throughout the conference, our Definitive Healthcare team heard a consistent message: The industry is moving beyond experimenting with new technologies and strategies. The priority now is understanding how to use them responsibly, effectively, and in ways that create meaningful value for patients and providers.
Read on for four key takeaways from the conference life sciences leaders should know.
AI is here to stay. Now comes the hard part
After years of experimenting with artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical companies are shifting their focus from what AI can do to how they can use it responsibly and effectively over the long term.
At Fierce Pharma Week, four concerns around AI adoption and use were top of mind: governance, compliance, data accuracy, and change management. As AI tools become embedded in everyday operations, pharma leaders agreed that a structured approach to implementation is needed to address the critical questions raised by these concerns.
Governance starts with establishing clear rules and accountability. Which AI tools are approved for use? What information can employees share with them? Who is responsible for validating their outputs? Where is human oversight required? And while many leaders have already created frameworks for AI governance, efforts are not advancing consistently across the industry.
A 2026 MGMA Stat poll reported that 42% of medical group leaders have a formal policy governing AI use. Meanwhile, 56% of respondents said their organization had no policy in place yet, while another 2% were unsure if their company had one. If your organization is considering integrating AI tools and has no governance policy (or is in the process of drafting one), there are plenty of resources to get you started, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI Risk Management Framework.
Compliance means ensuring the AI and data governance practices you established align with industry standards and federal regulations. From protecting sensitive patient information to reviewing AI-generated promotional materials, pharma companies need to understand the legal and regulatory implications of how they use these tools.
Of course, data accuracy is equally essential. AI systems depend on trustworthy information that is comprehensive, diverse, and free from bias. Using inaccurate or incomplete data can compromise the quality of their outputs, a concern raised by Ben Greenberg, Doximity’s SVP & GM of Commercial Products in his session, “The AI Doc Will Deceive You Now.”
Greenberg discussed how some AI tools can be ‘confidently wrong.’ This behavior can lead to a certain degree of ‘cognitive surrender,’ a phenomenon where users implicitly believe AI-generated outputs without verification or independent reasoning. In a 2026 study Greenberg cited, physicians exposed to flawed recommendations from an LLM scored worse on overall diagnostic reasoning—evidence that persuasive but incorrect AI output can meaningfully degrade physician performance.
Finally, leaders need to consider change management. Employees need more than just access to the latest AI tools and world-class data. They need comprehensive training to understand the capabilities and limitations of those tools, and guidance on evaluating their outputs and using them effectively within established workflows.
Altogether, these considerations represent the foundation for responsible, long-term AI adoption in the life sciences industry. Taking these considerations to heart can not only give your company a competitive edge in the era of AI, but it can also help establish much-needed trust in providers and patients alike.
Better drug development starts with deeply understanding patients
Putting patients at the center of drug development is hardly a new concept. But what does it look like when patients’ needs and lived experiences actually drive the decisions pharmaceutical companies make?
That was the central question explored by Dr. Tania Small, VP of Oncology Medical Affairs at Bristol Myers Squibb, during her keynote on patient-driven science.
Small challenged the industry to move beyond patient-centricity as a guiding principle and toward a more actionable approach that integrates patients’ experiences throughout the drug development lifecycle. Rather than developing a therapy and seeking patient input afterward, patient-driven science starts by understanding the realities of living with a disease. What barriers do patients encounter when seeking a diagnosis? How does treatment affect their daily lives? Which outcomes matter most to them, beyond traditional clinical measures?
The answers should inform everything from asset strategy and clinical trial design to evidence generation, treatment delivery, and managing side effects. Crucially, this approach requires accountability across the organization. Understanding and addressing patient needs isn’t solely the responsibility of medical affairs or patient engagement teams. It should influence decisions made by researchers, commercial strategists, market access professionals, and others involved in bringing therapies to market.
For life sciences organizations, healthcare data and analytics can help translate this ambition into action. Longitudinal patient journey data, medical claims, and real-world evidence can reveal patterns in diagnosis, treatment, healthcare utilization, and access to care. Combined with direct patient insights, this intelligence can help organizations identify unmet needs, inform development strategies, and better understand the outcomes patients experience, which can then be leveraged into your marketing campaigns. Check out our guide for more details on using data to build better patient-centric strategies.
GLP-1s are rewriting the patient engagement playbook
The rapid growth of GLP-1 therapies is changing more than the weight management market. It’s also prompting pharmaceutical companies to rethink how they engage patients, shifting the focus from traditional product promotion toward education, ongoing support, and longer-term relationships. Marketers recognize the challenge is in understanding what patients need at different stages of their care journeys and delivering information and support that remains relevant well beyond the initial prescription.
During a Fierce Pharma Week fireside chat, Kevin Donahoe, VP and Head of Diabetes Therapy Area Marketing and Patient Solutions at Novo Nordisk, explored how unprecedented demand for GLP-1 therapies is challenging conventional approaches to pharmaceutical marketing. With consumer awareness growing, brands must balance education, access, affordability, and long-term treatment adherence.
While this demand introduces new complexities for life sciences companies, it also creates ample opportunities to build more meaningful relationships with patients. Before a physician visit, patients may need help understanding their treatment options and separating credible information from misinformation. Once treatment begins, they may encounter insurance barriers, out-of-pocket costs, side effects, or questions about managing their medication.
The industry-spanning impact of GLP-1s is also one of our top healthcare trends to watch out for as we move into 2027. Read the blog to stay updated on the latest GLP-1 insights, such as how the medications are being used to treat cardiovascular conditions, kidney disease, and more.
Reaching the right providers still requires cutting through the noise
Despite advances in data, analytics, and omnichannel marketing, reaching the right healthcare providers with relevant messaging remains a persistent challenge for pharmaceutical companies.
That was a recurring theme in dozens of conversations our Definitive Healthcare team had with fellow attendees at Fierce Pharma Week. From identifying high-value HCPs to developing targeted messaging and determining the next best action, life sciences marketers are looking for ways to make their outreach more precise and meaningful in an increasingly crowded landscape.
The challenge isn’t simply finding more providers. It’s understanding which providers are relevant to a particular therapy, the patients they treat, and the broader networks in which they practice. Without that context, even sophisticated marketing campaigns can struggle to break through the noise.
That’s where solutions like Definitive Healthcare’s Digital Audiences can help. Built on real-world data, Digital Audiences enables marketing teams to develop precise, privacy-safe audiences immediately ready to be engaged with. Our audiences are built on characteristics such as provider specialty, prescribing behavior, patient mix, organizational affiliation, and more, so you can reach the right providers or patients across any channel faster.
What makes Digital Audiences particularly valuable is the ability to connect both sides of the care journey. Rather than developing separate HCP and direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies, pharma marketers can identify providers treating relevant patient populations and coordinate messaging across both audiences. The result is more relevant outreach that helps life sciences organizations connect with the providers and patients who matter to their marketing and outreach strategies.
Ready to gain clarity into the organizations, practitioners, and patients essential to your commercialization plan? See how our data and analytics can help improve performance no matter where you are on the drug development journey. Book a demo today.
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