The year in review: Amid rising federal agency scrutiny, surging digital investment, and rapid AI adoption, pharma advertisers faced shifting rules, evolving channels, and growing pressure to modernize how marketing is created, delivered, and reviewed. We detail the top three trends in pharma advertising in 2025 below:

Trend 1: The Trump administration made good on its promises to crack down on direct-to-consumer (D2C) advertising, but left uncertainty around longer ad formats.

• After criticism of pharma D2C TV advertising throughout the year, President Trump directed the HHS and the FDA to ramp up enforcement on drug advertising on TV and online channels like social media.
• The FDA promptly sent a letter to pharma companies promising “aggressive action” on misleading ads, followed by cease-and-desist letters to TV advertisers and others outlining violations and required fixes.
• The FDA also promised to revoke a nearly 30-year-old policy allowing drugmakers to run D2C ads without disclosing every side effect. That would force longer TV ads and more digital media disclosures, but no formal action has been taken yet.

Implications for pharma marketers: Rising regulatory scrutiny is prompting marketers to reassess the risk and cost of D2C advertising. Even without finalized rules, brands need to prioritize compliance across TV, social media, and influencer content. Marketers, including telehealth companies, should also anticipate more oversight to come on social platforms, which the FDA’s September letter specifically flagged.

Trend 2: Healthcare and pharma increased advertising spend across all digital channels in 2025, shifting even further away from traditional TV sources to more targeted and measurable formats.

• Digital ad spending will reach $24.8 billion this year, up 13.3% year over year, per EMARKETER’s healthcare and pharma ad spending forecast. Digital now accounts for more than three quarters (75.9%) of the industry’s total $32.62 billion in ad spending.