2025 was a tumultuous year, riven with the consequences of global political instability, notably the looming threat, and implementation of, tariffs, alongside a number of high-profile patent cliffs, regulatory upheavals and cuts to longstanding funding.

The impact of tariffs in particular was at the heart of industry conversation, with the US seeing a 70% increase in medicine imports and a 493% increase in basic pharmaceutical product imports as a result, and certain estimates putting the potential cost per US household at $600 per year. From a supply chain and logistics point of view, diversification, and how it could help mitigate the impact of tariffs, was a subject of much debate.

Whilst exemptions were struck in the US, and manufacturing expansion mooted and confirmed, the EU progressed the Critical Medicines Act, including measures to incentivise supply chain diversification and boost resilience, further fuelling discussion around how global supply chains can best be protected from political instability as well as pandemics or natural disasters.

But, alongside the challenges of 2025 were serious successes and signs of progress. Adoption of AI continued apace, with its application to drug discovery speeding development time and cutting costs. According to research from Mordor Intelligence, 95% of pharmaceutical companies are investing in AI capabilities, with the AI in Drug Discovery market size valued at USD 2.58 billion for 2025 and forecast to expand to USD 8.18 billion by 2030.

All told, 2025 was a year of headlines for the pharmaceutical sector, and a year of challenges which were navigated with varying degrees of success. But, as we gather speed in 2026, what has changed and what has stayed the same? Which talking points are driving decision-making for the year ahead?

Below are three key subjects which we believe will unite the pharmaceutical community in shared discussion for 2026.

Intelligent Futures

Unsurprisingly, AI will remain a driving force across the pharmaceutical sector as we strive towards more intelligent and efficient ways of working. In 2026 we’re likely to see great strides forward, as the exploratory pilots of 2025 develop into agentic, autonomous systems that make operational decisions independently.

For professionals in the pharmaceutical supply chain the question is how ethical AI frameworks can be used to drive innovation and transformation. At its simplest level, AI delivers efficiency through the automation of previously time-consuming manual activities, batch processing huge volumes of data or ensuring regulatory compliance across complex chains at speed. It can also be a valuable addition to procurement processes, analysing vast quantities of information to recommend smarter sourcing and transport options, optimising pallets, for example, and driving down costs.

But beyond this, AI is increasingly being implemented as part of supply chain risk management strategies, analysing historic data to predict potential disruptions, optimising inventory levels and recommending production cadence in line with forecasted demand.