What are the main forms of generative AI being leveraged in pharma marketing?
Generative AI can be categorized into three general uses:
- Content Generators: These produce texts, images, and video rapidly, and can also refine content by changing tone, simplifying information, or fine-tuning messages for specific audience segments.
- Answer Engines: These are new forms of ‘search’ that generate direct answers (text, images, video) rather than just providing links. They can be used to extract insights from market research reports or summarize clinical studies.
- Agents (Large Action Models – LAMs): These forms of AI act to achieve specific goals without specific instructions or human oversight. For example, an AI agent could review keynote Q&As and social media reactions to assess the medical community’s response to a drug launch. These are considered the most controversial due to their autonomous nature.
What are the primary use cases for AI in pharma and MedTech marketing?
There are four broad categories of AI use cases in pharma and MedTech marketing:
- Strategic Insights Generation: AI can analyze vast amounts of both structured (e.g., CRM data) and unstructured data (e.g., government policy documents, articles on HCP preferences) to generate actionable insights and trends. This can improve understanding by up to 30%. However, caution is advised as AI can produce plausible but incorrect results (“AI hallucination”).
- Marketing Content Generation: AI is crucial for omnichannel strategies that require high content volume for personalization. It can rapidly generate various content formats (texts, images, video, audio) and reduce content creation costs by 30-50%.
- MLR Acceleration (Medical, Legal, Regulatory Review): AI can modernize labor-intensive MLR processes, which typically take 21 to 56 days for approval. AI tools can pre-screen materials, flagging problematic content for detailed review and fast-tracking compliant assets. AI co-pilots can also assist MLR staff with referencing claims and rephrasing options, potentially accelerating content approvals two to three times.
- Field Force Enablement: AI benefits customer-facing staff like sales teams and Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) by improving training, account planning, and content delivery. AI can provide immediate access to drug information, offer coaching for specific situations, and integrate with CRM to help reps prioritize accounts and personalize HCP engagements based on “next best” message or format recommendations.
