Artificial Intelligence in Pharma: What 2025 Holds for Us

Written by Laura Valenzuela, Pharma Business Insights Consultant, and Carla Bellver, Business Insights Lead at SDG Group Spain.

Artificial intelligence has been present in the pharmaceutical industry for the past few years, gradually transforming different areas by optimizing various processes and resources. However, 2025 will be a turning point, consolidating its large-scale application and making its impact tangible across all areas of the sector, especially in the commercial field.
Pharmaceutical companies that strategically adopt AI will drive their growth and competitiveness, optimizing relationships with healthcare professionals, anticipating market trends, and improving the efficiency of their sales, marketing, and market access teams.

In this article, we explore the trends that will define the future of AI in the pharmaceutical industry in 2025, with a focus on how it is revolutionizing the commercial area—enabling companies to sell more, operate more efficiently, and strengthen their market positioning.

1. Generative AI and Regulatory Processes: Accelerating Approvals and Reducing Errors

One of the biggest bottlenecks in the industry is the complexity of regulatory processes. In 2025, generative AI is transforming how pharmaceutical companies manage drug approvals, significantly reducing time and errors. Here are some examples:

• Automation of regulatory analysis (FDA, EMA, etc.) to streamline regulatory compliance.
• Automated documentation generation for faster and more accurate submissions to regulatory bodies.
• Reduction of compliance-related errors, avoiding delays in bringing new drugs to market.

2. From Data to Business: AI Automates the Generation of Strategic Insights

Pharmaceutical companies handle an overwhelming amount of data from various sources (sales reports, interactions with healthcare professionals, prescription data, market demand, etc.). However, transforming this into actionable information remains a challenge. In 2025, generative AI is automating data analysis and real-time insight generation, enabling companies to make informed decisions without relying on inefficient manual processes or needing advanced technical knowledge. Among many use cases, it is used for:

• Automatic generation of strategic reports, interpreting sales, territory, or HCP engagement data to optimize commercial strategy.
• Identification of market trends and demand, allowing companies to anticipate opportunities and proactively adjust commercial actions.

3. Predictive AI in Sales: Anticipating Demand and Increasing Interactions

Artificial intelligence no longer only analyzes past data—it now anticipates future trends. The combination of causal inference and integrated business planning enables pharmaceutical companies to foresee demand changes and adapt their sales strategies in real time.

• Identification of medical prescription patterns to predict changes in drug demand.
• Optimization of the sales force by adjusting commercial strategies based on predictions of healthcare professionals’ behavior.
• Detection of churn signals or losses among HCPs, enabling personalized retention strategies.

4. Hyperpersonalization in Relationships with Healthcare Professionals

The traditional pharmaceutical marketing approach based on mass campaigns is disappearing. In 2025, AI enables hyperpersonalization of every interaction with HCPs, ensuring that each doctor receives the right content at the right time through the most effective channel, leading to greater engagement. Specifically, HCP segmentation techniques and Next Best Action allow for recommending the best commercial action based on historical and real-time data, providing the appropriate interaction channel (in-person visit, email, phone call) and content according to the specific profile of each HCP.

5. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: The New 24/7 Sales Rep

With the evolution of Language Models (xLMs), virtual assistants in the pharma industry no longer just answer basic questions—they have become key allies in relationships with HCPs and the sales force. Here are some common applications:

• Virtual assistants for doctors, answering real-time questions about medications and clinical studies.
• Chatbots supporting the sales force, answering questions about internal documentation and HCP history.
• Automation of interactions, enabling immediate attention without human intervention.

6. Constant Monitoring: AI to Identify Market and Competitor Trends

In 2025, pharmaceutical companies are not only analyzing internal data but also using AI to monitor market trends, drug demand, and competitor moves in real time. In this regard, AI is enabling functions such as:

• Real-time analysis of the pharmaceutical market’s evolution.
• Prediction of business opportunities and expansion areas.
• Automated monitoring of competitors and regulatory changes.
  
  

7. Measuring the ROI of AI: Beyond Cost, the Real Business Impact

Many companies have implemented AI without knowing how to measure its real impact. In 2025, pharmaceutical companies are adopting new AI profitability metrics, considering not only costs but also engagement and operational efficiency, to ensure greater alignment of AI investment with business objectives.

At SDG Group, we are experts in the data lifecycle, offering the latest trends that fit the best Analytics strategy for each company. All of this positions us as a relevant partner in AI adoption to optimize processes and marketing strategy within the pharma industry.

Translated from Spanish, original article published on PMFarma, here.