There’s a New Audience in Pharma and Biotech, and It May Not Be Who You Think

Author

By Virginia Foley

December 10, 2024

Executive Summary

Generative AI (GenAI) has introduced a paradigm shift in how pharmaceutical and biotech companies interact with audiences. Traditional advertising and promotional strategies that once targeted healthcare professionals, consumers, and payers now require an additional focus: AI platforms. This white paper explores how GenAI models influence the healthcare industry, their impact on information-seeking behavior, and strategies to dominate this rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Introduction

The life sciences and healthcare industries are undergoing a transformative phase with the rise of Generative AI (GenAI). These AI systems, which include Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini, create new content based on their vast training datasets. In this new landscape, AI itself has emerged as a significant audience, reshaping how healthcare narratives are controlled and consumed.

The Landscape of GenAI

Generative AI refers to AI models trained on extensive datasets collected from sources like Reddit, PubMed, blogs, and more. These models are used to create original text, images, and audio, profoundly impacting how information is generated and disseminated. While open models like ChatGPT access publicly available data, private LLMs leverage proprietary datasets, highlighting the importance of data quality in AI-generated outputs.

Where Are People Going for Information Now?

A Pew Research Center study reveals that 77% of U.S. adults search online for health information before consulting a doctor. 138 million U.S. users turn to GenAI platforms for information retrieval, while younger generations increasingly turn to social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube, 1 Even healthcare professionals, traditionally skeptical of AI, are embracing these tools, with two-thirds altering their perspectives in the past year.

This shift introduces AI platforms as a fourth target audience in pharmaceutical advertising, alongside healthcare professionals (HCPs), consumers, and payers.

Pharma Use Case: Controlling the Narrative

Now I’d like to share with you a real-life story about a senior leader at a midsize oncology medicine company (XYZ Pharma) that was in a very competitive oncology treatment space. XYZ pharma was up against a behemoth global pharmaceutical company (AD Pharma).  During a high-profile leadership meeting, the senior leader from XYZ Pharma decided to enter a simple prompt into ChatGPT asking whether Brand B (their brand) was better than Brand A (AD Pharma’s brand).  The results that came back were very skewed toward AD Pharma, so it taught them an immediate lesson about the power of AI responses. Please note this data comes from 2023 so the AI environment has evolved, and the names and some details have been altered, but the story remains intact for us all to take away some valuable learnings.

AD Pharma’s Strategic Offense

To ensure Brand A’s dominance, AD Pharma employed a comprehensive strategy:

  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Purchased three times more keywords than Brand B.
  • Content Structure: Created indexable web pages designed for featured snippets in search results.
  • Social Media Ads: Launched over 200 ads in two months, far outpacing Brand B’s efforts.
  • Publications: Proactively circulated medical publications (med pubs)

This multi-channel approach enabled AD Pharma to preemptively blunt Brand B’s market entry.

The Search Experience: Insights from AI Platforms

AD Pharma’s campaign extended to AI platforms. ChatGPT and Gemini provided varied responses to prompts using brand names versus established names. Brand A consistently dominated safety-related narratives, showcasing the need for brands to optimize their content for AI queries.

Key Lessons: The Importance of Owning the Narrative

  • Narrative Ownership: Brands must proactively shape their digital footprint to influence both human and AI audiences.
  • Cumulative Digital Presence: Success requires robust, multi-channel strategies that integrate search, social, and third-party content.
  • Leveraging AI Learning: As GenAI models evolve, they rely heavily on publicly available data, offering opportunities for brands to align their content strategies with AI training mechanisms.

Recommendations for Pharma and Biotech Companies

  • Act Immediately: Deploy robust digital strategies to occupy the narrative space before competitors do.
  • Engage Across Channels: Create cohesive content that resonates with audiences on social platforms, search engines, and AI platforms.
  • Optimize for AI Platforms: Ensure that content is structured for AI accessibility, focusing on indexable formats and keywords.
  • Invest in Analytics: Continuously analyze the performance of digital campaigns and refine them to maintain narrative control.

Conclusion

Generative AI has become a key player in shaping healthcare narratives. As AI platforms increasingly influence consumer and HCP decision-making, pharmaceutical and biotech companies must adapt by developing proactive, digitally integrated strategies. Owning the narrative is no longer optional—it’s a necessity to thrive in this competitive environment.

About the Author

Virginia Foley is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Constellation, Inc., where she applies her expertise in life sciences to navigate digital content automation and deployment for healthcare clients. Her career is focussed on advertising and promotional regulation of prescription drugs & biologics, with an emphasis on leveraging emerging technologies.