Health advertising tech firm Indegene is ramping up its US strategy, betting that pricing pressures under the Trump administration will accelerate the pharmaceutical industry’s shift toward digital-first, non-personal marketing.
The company’s recent $104 million acquisition of BioPharm Communications, a Pennsylvania-based adtech firm, is central to this pivot.
“Whenever the pharma industry is under pressure, those times are better for us,” Indegene chairman and CEO Manish Gupta said in an interview to Moneycontrol. “What we propose and bring out is a more efficient model.”
BioPharm acquisition from Omnicom Group gives Indegene access to a proprietary database of more than 15 million physician engagements and around 300 million exposure events, enabling hyper-targeted campaigns for top pharma clients.
BioPharm serves 17 of the top 25 global pharma companies and its AI-driven media planning tools are expected to bolster Indegene’s Tectonic initiative—a push to move upstream in the marketing value chain.
Gupta sees the Trump administration’s most favoured nation (MFN) pricing model that mandates pay no more than the lowest price paid by other developed countries, Medicaid spending cuts, and potential restrictions on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising as tailwinds for Indegene’s business.
“If a ban comes [on DTC ads], pharma will use more digital ways to reach patients and increase spending on physicians. That’s where a company like us comes in,” Gupta said.
AI on the groundPharmaceutical companies in US typically allocate 18 percent to 20 percent of revenue towards sales and marketing activities. Given the global pharmaceutical market size of around $1.8 to $2 trillion, this translates to a commercialisation spend of several hundred billion dollars globally, with the US accounting for a substantial share due to its position as the largest pharma market, he said.
The largest spend historically has gone to personal promotion, involving sales reps visiting doctors. However, this model is in decline. Around 60 percent of US physicians no longer meet sales representatives and the cost of maintaining a rep force is steep, at $250,000 to $300,000 per person annually, Gupta said.
The second-largest and fastest-growing segment is non-personal promotion, which includes digital outreach via email, EHR integrations, and display ads.
This is the space in which Indegene operates, offering AI-powered, data-driven campaigns that target physicians based on behavioural insights.
The third and smallest segment is DTC advertising, estimated at $5–$9 billion annually, and only permitted in the US and the UK.
Indegene’s core offering replaces traditional sales reps with AI-powered digital outreach, a model Gupta said is gaining traction as pharma companies seek more efficient ways to engage physicians.
“Instead of putting feet on the ground, we reach out to physicians through digital AI. We can bend your prescription curve,” Gupta said.
The BioPharm deal is expected to unlock cross-selling opportunities, expand Indegene’s wallet share in brand budgets and scale its Enterprise Programmatic Centers of Excellence.
The acquisition was funded entirely through internal accruals, with $65 million paid upfront and performance-linked earnouts through 2026, Gupta said.
“This scaled presence gives us a much better hook and a stronger position to take a larger market share,” he said.
Indegene reported $1 million in revenue from Tectonic engagements in Q1 and expects this to scale rapidly. Tectonic is an internal strategic initiative launched by Indegene.
The company is also investing in Gen AI platforms such as Cortex, which would be central to future growth, Gupta said.
“Our priority is growth rather than margin expansion. We’re seeing customers come back, and our investment in growth becomes paramount,” he said.
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