Here’s What Pharma Marketers Should Expect in 2026

The new year is full of new opportunities—and refining your marketing strategy should be at the top of the list in 2026.

It’s no secret that pharma marketing is strategic: from doctor detailing and direct-to-consumer advertising to digital engagement, you have to use a variety of channels to reach the right patients with the right message.

Trends like personalization and AI adoption will continue to shape the industry, but 2026 will be full of changes that redefine how pharma communicates, supports, and retains patients.

Here are the top three trends that will shape pharma marketing in 2026—and how you should prepare.

Prediction #1: Weight-Loss Category Will Continue to Dominate

It should come as no surprise: If there’s one med that should be top of mind for all marketers, it’s GLP-1s.

2025 saw a surge in medications like Wegovy and Zepbound, and that growth isn’t expected to slow down—especially as oral formulations enter the market this year.

In 2025, the GLP-1 market size was estimated to be $70B. That number is expected to increase to $200B by 2033, as legislative moves from the Trump administration and manufacturers like Novo Nordisk cut costs by up to 70% and make GLP-1s more accessible than ever.

With demand increasing by the day, pharma teams need to be prepared for the influx of patients. In 2026, we predict pharma will:

• Clarify GLP‑1 positioning early: With so many options on the market, differentiation on speed‑to‑effect, tolerability, and patient fit will be essential.
• Get ahead of side‑effect narratives: Content that sets reasonable expectations about side effects—written in simple language—will be critical to retention.
• Prepare for switching behavior: As oral options enter the market and supply ebbs and flows, patients will want to switch mid‑therapy. Pharma should make the transition across channels seamless.
• Build real‑world evidence (RWE): As the GLP-1 market gets increasingly crowded, prescribers and patients will rely more on real‑world outcomes than on top‑line clinical claims.
• Create strategic partnerships: GLP-1s come with plenty of questions, and as any manufacturer knows, those questions rarely go back to the brand: they go to the pharmacy counter. Pharmacists will play a major role in fostering engagement, providing clinical support, and keeping patients on therapy long enough to see results.

Prediction #2: Direct-to-Consumer Will Move Front and Center

DTC is probably already part of your business, but in 2026, it’s time to strengthen your strategy for reaching consumers—but maybe not in the way you think.

In 2025, new policy pressures from the Inflation Reduction Act, Most Favored Nation pricing, and 340B discounts pushed manufacturers to rethink traditional distributions. At the same time, patients expected healthcare to feel like any other online convenience: simple, seamless, and just a click away.

As a result, pharma‑branded platforms like LillyDirect^®, PfizerForAll^™, and NovoCare^® were born. These platforms offer discounted cash‑pay medications bundled with telehealth, education, and fulfillment services. For pharma, the appeal is obvious: more control over pricing, cleaner communication with patients, and stronger margins.

But as promising as these platforms are, they’re not a silver bullet. They’re built to help patients start therapy—but they’re not always designed to support that therapy weeks, months, or even years down the road.

After the initial onboarding, patients still face day‑to‑day questions about dosing, side effects, missed doses, and whether they’re on the right track.

And while telehealth can handle some of that, it isn’t always where patients turn first. Some go back to their primary care provider. Some lean on digital tools. Some ask care coordinators. And yes—many walk into their local pharmacy.

In the case of the latter, pharmacists remain the most accessible healthcare provider. When patients have questions, hit roadblocks, or want reassurance, they need a provider they know and trust. In the age of DTC, that connection is often the missing link to positive patient outcomes.

The point is this: DTC only succeeds when it’s supported by an omnichannel approach. And to do that, patients need options rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to care.

And in 2026, the strongest DTC strategies will recognize this and pair convenience with continuity to make sure that patients have multiple ways to get support.

Prediction #3: PBMs Will Remain the Biggest Beneficiary of Pharmacy Claims—Unless Congress Steps In

Despite years of pushback and plenty of advocacy from the industry, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) continue to hold disproportionate power over the pharmacy industry.

The top three PBMs (CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx) processed about 79% of U.S. prescription claims in 2023, often through vertically integrated models that give them control over insurance, specialty pharmacy, and distribution.

In the process, they leave other sectors—pharma, pharmacies, and most importantly, patients—struggling to stay afloat.

For pharma, PBMs’ leverage shows up everywhere:

• Formulary design determines whether a therapy is accessible, restricted, or effectively sidelined
• Utilization management (prior authorization, step therapy) can delay starts and increase abandonment
• Rebate/fee structures may favor higher list‑price products with bigger rebates, raising plan costs and patient OOP for those whose cost‑sharing is tied to list price
• Patient cost‑sharing design directly shapes adherence and outcomes

Unless Congress forces deconsolidation, bans spread pricing, and creates open network requirements, PBMs will keep taking a bigger piece of the pie than they’re owed, while patients face rising out-of-pocket costs.

Pharma can’t wait for policy change. In 2026, manufacturers will need to work to out‑innovate the middle layer.

We predict that pharma will:

• Unbundle access from PBM incentives: Manufacturers will expand cash‑pay and direct‑to‑patient pathways for individuals blocked by utilization management or high out‑of‑pocket costs. Transparent pricing and simple eligibility rules will become essential to prevent patients from falling through support gaps.
• Prioritize affordability first: Expect to see more front‑loaded copay assistance and a stronger push to bring discounts directly to the point of sale so patients aren’t effectively financing rebates with their own wallets.
• Beat prior authorization: Manufacturers will prevent PA delays by giving prescribers exactly what they need to get approvals faster: clear clinical criteria, one‑page summaries, dose algorithms, and the like.
• Make switching easy: After years of GLP‑1 shortages, manufacturers will prepare plug‑and‑play resources for NDC swaps, injectable‑to‑oral transitions, dosing calendars, and device guidance so patients don’t lose progress when supply shifts.
• Be ready for surprise policy changes: With payer rules evolving quickly, manufacturers will build more streamlined content pipelines so that educational materials can be deployed immediately rather than weeks after a policy shift.
• Connect DTC to real support: As more patients start therapy through branded platforms, manufacturers will ensure continuity through telehealth follow‑ups, care coordinators, and importantly, in‑person pharmacy support. The best strategies will be those that extend beyond onboarding and reach multiple touchpoints.

At RedSail, we’re building technology that closes the gap between pharma and independent pharmacy, making those interactions easier, more coordinated, and more impactful for everyone involved.

And for pharma marketers looking to influence real‑world decisions in 2026, that may be the most strategic investment of all.

To learn more about how RedSail supports pharma + pharmacy collaboration, click here.