For two decades, pharmaceutical companies have relied on branded websites as the primary hub for digital interaction. These sites functioned as polished “front doors,” where brands presented their narratives, hoping clinicians and patients would engage. While traffic still arrives, engagement is plummeting, not because of content shortcomings or underinvestment, but because the way people seek information has fundamentally changed.
The core problem is that pharma websites are built for an era of linear reading when the world now operates on direct questioning. Health literacy remains a major barrier: roughly 88% of U.S. adults struggle to comprehend medical information, a statistic unchanged for years. Even physicians find branded portals and apps cumbersome, failing to deliver clinically relevant data efficiently. The issue isn’t the content itself but the outdated medium.
Behavior has shifted dramatically. Patients and doctors no longer “scroll and read”; they expect immediate answers. AI-powered health queries are mainstream, with 30% of U.S. adults regularly receiving answers from AI. Clinicians are adopting AI at an 80% year-over-year rate, with nearly two-thirds reporting its use in practice. AI is no longer an add-on but the underlying mechanism of healthcare. Systems like Cedars-Sinai and the UK’s NHS are already using AI to handle tens of thousands of encounters annually, proving its scalability.
Pharma clings to outdated systems while user behavior diverges. Companies invest millions in maintaining hundreds of brand websites, yet engagement declines. These sites offer first-party data but lose relevance as users bypass them for more accessible channels. Emerging AI-driven engagement layers allow brands to collect compliant data within existing channels like email, SMS, and social media, meeting patients and providers where they already are.
Eli Lilly recognizes this shift. Jennifer Oleksiw, their global chief customer officer, emphasizes the need to move beyond static websites to personalized content embedded in daily “life flow.” The future isn’t about driving traffic to a single channel; it’s about delivering higher-quality engagement that yields better data.
AI is enabling a new interface layer. This is not innovation theater; it’s enterprise-wide investment in a new modality. The AI-in-healthcare market is projected to surpass $180 billion by 2030. However, generic AI tools aren’t enough. Regulatory constraints demand an architecture that combines AI-powered convenience with precision compliance. The challenge is delivering exactly what users want, when they want it, while adhering to strict pharma approval standards.
This constraint isn’t an obstacle but an opportunity. The interface layer must be thoughtfully built through collaboration between industry leaders. Whoever controls this layer will own the relationship between clinicians, patients, and life-saving treatments. Arpa Garay, former chief commercial officer at Moderna, stresses that the next battleground is ensuring science appears precisely when and where questions arise. Brands that win will deliver accessible, contextually accurate information instantly.
The shift isn’t optional. Consumer tech companies are already deploying medical-grade AI agents capable of triaging questions and shaping clinical decisions, bypassing pharma websites entirely. Health systems are building AI-powered engagement layers, offering conversational support directly to patients. Pharma’s digital front doors are at risk of becoming obsolete.
To keep pace, pharma must embrace two truths: it must own the science and technology companies will own the infrastructure. By combining trusted content with compliant AI integration, pharma can insert itself into the conversations where patients and providers already engage.
The future isn’t about assets, pages, or campaigns; it’s about controlling the intelligent layer connecting the right information to the right user at the right moment. This requires deep collaboration between pharma, AI-native health tech companies, and infrastructure providers.
The key metric is no longer traffic but relevance. Did the user receive the right, compliant answer when they needed it? Amgen is already reframing its approach, focusing on ensuring its science appears where it’s needed most. Murdo Gordon, their global commercial operations executive, states that the focus must shift from driving traffic to ensuring science shows up accurately and instantly.
The decline of the static pharma website isn’t a failure but a natural evolution. The brands that lead the next decade won’t have the best websites; they will break free from maintaining them and venture boldly into the AI-powered world where patients and providers already operate. They will partner with technology companies to create the intelligent, compliant, omnichannel layer that replaces the website entirely, meeting clinicians and patients where they are.
