The FDA’s biologics arm cited several oncology brands for misleading claims, intensifying the agency’s broader pharma marketing enforcement.

Its partnership with Major League Baseball will give it mass reach, but real value comes from extending TV moments into digital channels.

Direct-to-consumer TV advertising doubled the collective sales of many of the largest pharma TV advertisers across the last three years, per a recent analysis by VAB. Big Pharma’s large TV ad budgets are still paying off despite the industry-wide shift towards digital. The VAB findings highlight TV’s ability to generate brand awareness that also fuels downstream digital engagement.

Pharma linear TV ad spending totaled $1.25 billion in Q3, with prescription drug commercials taking the leading share of national TV ad spending for the quarter, according to iSpot.tv. Pharma marketers are reallocating more of their budgets toward digital—especially connected TV (CTV) and social media—for more precise targeting and measurement gains. However, linear TV is still important for Big Pharma, especially for mainstream events like live sports, to drive board awareness of common health conditions. We expect linear TV’s scale, trust, and cultural relevance will keep it in the mix for the foreseeable future.

The news: Prescription drugmakers can now apply for new Trump administration priority review vouchers that will cut drug approval times down from 10-12 months to just 1-2 months. Our take: Good faith commitments for US drug onshoring investments could translate to valuable advantages if those drugmakers can leverage those into a CNPV. But with so many pharma companies already in that pool, we expect this year’s winners to be drugmakers who can show real evidence of two, three or even all five priorities on the Trump administration list.

The news: Prescription drugmakers spent $2.97 billion on national TV advertising in the frist half of 2025, an increase of 12.2% YoY, per iSpot.tv. The takeaway: Prescription drugmakers went against the current trend—most other industries decreased linear TV spending in the first half of the year, per iSpot. But traditional TV viewing audiences are a prime audience for drugmakers. We forecast 52.8% of TV viewers will be age 65 and older this year, the only age demographic to increase. It makes sense for pharma marketers to focus spending on key audiences, driving awareness and encouraging them to ask their doctors for their brands.

The news: Pharma advertisers spent more than $10 billion on prescription drug ads last year, with the top 10 drug brands accounting for $3.3 billion last year, per Fierce Pharma’s report based on MediaRadar data. Our take: As pharma marketers shift drug ad budgets from TV to more digital channels, they’ll have to shift thinking from spendy brand awareness to more nuanced messaging. Social media edutainment, paid AI search ads, and partnering with doctor and patient influencers can reach more relevant consumers and deliver higher ROI.

The news: US pharma imports returned to normal in April after a March stockpiling of drugs and medical products spurred by tariff threats from the Trump administration. The takeaway: Fluctuating tariff threats from the Trump administration means ongoing uncertainty for drugmakers. If the indecision lags for more than a few months, expect some pharma product stockpiling to return.

AbbVie shakes up obesity market: AbbVie’s entrance to the weight loss drug market could create more competition between Big Pharma with a vote of confidence in a GLP-1 alternative.

Blue Shield of California negotiates for cheaper version of biosimilar: This is the first time a health insurer has used this approach to bring a Humira biosimilar to market, circumventing pharmacy benefit managers entirely.

FDA warns AbbVie for misleading TV ad ft. Serena Williams: Pharma marketers—particularly those who work with celebrities—ought to pay close attention to the regulator’s assertions.