Privacy vs. Performance? What 200 Pharma Leaders Reveal About the Future of DTC

Every pharma marketer is operating under more privacy pressure than ever. But according to new benchmark research, the bigger threat to DTC and direct-to-patient (DTP) performance isn't regulation itself — it's fragmentation.

The 2026 DTC and DTP Pharma Benchmark Survey, based on responses from 200 marketing and privacy leaders across global pharma, reveals a stark reality:

• Visibility breaks down at the exact moments that matter most.
• 83% of marketers can't connect website visits to prescription fills.
• 62% of privacy leaders have only partial visibility into how sensitive health data flows through their own analytics and advertising tools.
• And nearly every marketer surveyed reports that privacy constraints are already impacting performance — yet the industry still lacks a proven playbook for scaling compliant measurement.

Join Kris Corr, associate director of enterprise media strategy at AstraZeneca; Mason Fitch, special counsel at Kelley Drye; and Freshpaint to unpack the findings from the 2026 DTC and DTP Pharma Benchmark Survey and explore what they mean for modern pharma organizations.

Drawing directly from the benchmark findings, this session delivers a candid perspective from the marketing, legal and infrastructure sides of the table — and a clear-eyed look at what it actually takes to align privacy and performance in today's enforcement environment.

Expect to:

• Identify the biggest visibility gaps across today’s DTC and DTP patient journeys
• Discover how evolving privacy enforcement is reshaping pharma marketing operations and measurement
• Evaluate the hidden business impact of fragmented data, siloed systems and manual compliance processes
• Align marketing and privacy stakeholders around a shared framework for compliant growth
• Build a privacy-safe measurement strategy that improves attribution without increasing regulatory risk

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