Life sciences executives are entering 2026 confident in their organisations’ performance but cautious about the global economy. In Deloitte’s 2026 life sciences outlook, more than 75% of surveyed biopharma and medtech leaders report confidence in their organisations’ financial outlooks for the coming year, while only 41% express optimism about broader economic conditions. Planning reflects this divide between optimism and caution. Regulation, pricing and market access dominate strategic agendas, while geopolitical tensions, inflation and supply chain challenges intensify scrutiny on costs and resilience. Digital transformation and artificial intelligence continue to attract investment, though many organisations report limited progress in achieving scaled operational benefits. The outlook combines innovation ambition with tighter execution discipline.
Regional Confidence and Market Variability
Expectations differ across regions and sectors. Among biopharma leaders in surveyed European and Asian markets, 90% report positive or cautiously positive expectations for 2026. In the same group, 83% anticipate stable or strong revenue growth, while only 2% foresee a decline.
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Medtech executives report higher optimism overall, with 81% projecting growth. Leaders are adjusting launch priorities and market entry strategies to reflect differing national regulations, reimbursement frameworks and pricing controls. In Europe, tightening requirements under the Medical Device Regulation and the EU AI Act exemplify this trend towards stronger oversight influencing business planning.
Regulatory and Economic Pressures Drive Strategic Focus
Regulatory change emerges as the leading factor shaping strategic decisions for 2026. Among respondents 51 % cite national regulatory developments likely to influence market access, pricing and reimbursement. Key examples include the EU AI Act, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Health Data Space, all of which introduce new expectations for compliance, transparency and data governance.
Pricing and access remain central concerns, with 44% identifying them as major challenges. Competitive pressure from generics and biosimilars is noted by 37%, while 26% cite the expiry of blockbuster patents. Inflation, economic uncertainty and supply chain disruption are identified by 38% of respondents as strategic risks. Geopolitical tensions have grown sharply in perceived importance, cited by 39%, a 20-point rise from the previous year. These pressures are prompting greater focus on cost control, supply resilience and more cautious expansion plans.
Changing care delivery and customer expectations also feature strongly. Thirty-three percent of respondents identify connected care delivery as an important trend for 2026, while 35% highlight greater use of digital tools in clinical and commercial operations. A further 32% refer to evolving customer needs, pointing to continued transformation in engagement models and service delivery.
AI Adoption Expands but Remains Uneven
AI and digital transformation are gaining operational traction but remain unevenly scaled. Accelerated digital transformation is cited by 48% of respondents as a key influence for 2026, an increase from the previous year. Generative AI is cited by 41%, and 30% express interest in agentic AI capable of autonomous decision-making and task execution. However, only 22% of organisations report successful AI scaling and 9% report meaningful financial returns from AI deployment.
Cybersecurity accompanies digital adoption as a rising concern, cited by 35% as likely to affect strategy. AI is expected to enhance efficiency, with 78% of respondents anticipating a significant impact on productivity and operations. Workforce initiatives reflect this focus: 29% of biopharma and 31% of medtech leaders plan to apply AI tools or training to support workforce productivity. Yet progress is gradual—14% report full integration of AI into workflows, while 40% are still implementing.
Cost-control priorities diverge between segments. In biopharma, 41% prioritise improving research and development (R&D) productivity, reflecting high development costs estimated above $2 billion (€1.7 billion) per new drug. In medtech, 47% identify AI implementation as the main efficiency strategy. Commercial levers such as pricing, contracting and reimbursement remain central for both sectors, cited by 29% of biopharma and 37% of medtech leaders.
Growth plans combine innovation and partnership. About half of biopharma (48%) and medtech (50%) executives plan to focus on new product launches. Biopharma respondents highlight expansion into new therapeutic areas (43%) and the development of new modalities (40%). In medtech, 49% prioritise AI-driven diagnostics and 46% look to adjacent categories. Mergers and acquisitions are identified as key tools by 45% of biopharma and 51% of medtech leaders, reflecting sustained consolidation activity.
The 2026 outlook depicts a sector balancing innovation with constraint. Organisations anticipate growth yet face intensified scrutiny from regulators and payers, alongside economic and geopolitical uncertainty. European policy developments such as the EU AI Act, CSRD and EHDS are reshaping compliance priorities, while AI and digital transformation remain central to efficiency and competitiveness. Reported progress on scaling AI remains limited, highlighting an ongoing gap between ambition and real-world impact. For healthcare and life sciences leaders, 2026 will require alignment of innovation, regulation and cost management to sustain growth under tighter operational and financial conditions.
Source: Deloitte Insights
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