Medical Affairs Intern

Ardelyx•Waltham, MA

1d•$25 - $25

About The Position

Ardelyx is a publicly traded commercial biopharmaceutical company founded with a mission to discover, develop and commercialize innovative first-in-class medicines that meet significant unmet medical needs. Ardelyx has two commercial products approved in the United States, IBSRELA® (tenapanor) and XPHOZAH® (tenapanor). Ardelyx has agreements for the development and commercialization of tenapanor outside of the U.S. Kyowa Kirin commercializes PHOZEVEL® (tenapanor) for hyperphosphatemia in Japan. A New Drug Application for tenapanor for hyperphosphatemia has been approved in China with Fosun Pharma. Knight Therapeutics commercializes IBSRELA in Canada. Position Summary: The Medical Affairs Intern will evaluate the potential role and value of social media within Ardelyx Medical Affairs, with a primary focus on platforms such as LinkedIn and X (Twitter). The intern will conduct competitive intelligence and benchmarking on how peer biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies use social media to disseminate scientific information, publications, and congress updates, and will assess Ardelyx’s current Medical Affairs social media activities to generate structured, evidence‑based recommendations for leadership.

Requirements

Currently pursuing a degree in Life Sciences, Public Health, Pharmacy, Health Communications, Marketing, or a related field.
Strong analytical and research skills, with the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources.
Interest in Medical Affairs, scientific communication, and digital/social media in a biopharmaceutical context.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to summarize complex information clearly.
Organized, detail‑oriented, and comfortable working with qualitative and basic quantitative data (e.g., engagement metrics).

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with LinkedIn and X (Twitter) as professional/scientific communication channels.
Prior experience in social media analysis, competitive intelligence, or communications is a plus.
Basic presentation skills and proficiency in PowerPoint or similar tools.

Responsibilities

Conduct competitive intelligence
Review Medical Affairs‑relevant social media activity across a defined list of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Identify how Medical Affairs teams use platforms such as LinkedIn and X to share scientific information, publications, and congress updates.
Document examples of common approaches to publication dissemination, congress coverage, and medical content sharing.
Assess current Ardelyx Medical social media activities
Review the current Ardelyx Medical Affairs social media program, including vendor‑supported publication and abstract posts.
Evaluate existing engagement metrics, posting cadence, and content mix.
Identify the types of scientific information currently shared through Ardelyx Medical channels and how they are positioned.
Benchmark industry practices
Compare Ardelyx Medical’s current approach with observed practices from peer companies.
Identify common strategies, governance models, and engagement patterns used across the industry.
Evaluate whether and how social media appears to support scientific communication or visibility for Medical Affairs organizations.
Gather internal context
Meet with select Medical Affairs team members to understand how social media currently supports publications, congress activity, and scientific communications.
Focus discussions on clarifying current practices, objectives, and constraints rather than designing new workflows.
Evaluate platforms and potential opportunities
Explore whether additional or emerging professional platforms are being used by peer companies for Medical Affairs engagement.
Identify potential areas where the Ardelyx Medical social media program could be optimized, simplified, or refocused.
Develop findings and recommendations
Synthesize research into a structured summary of findings, including competitive intelligence, benchmarks, and key observations.
Outline potential paths forward (e.g., maintain the current approach, optimize the current model, expand selectively, or discontinue if strategic value appears limited).
Prepare and deliver a short presentation summarizing findings and recommendations to Medical Affairs leadership.
Additional Medical Affairs Operations support
As time allows, assist with short‑term Medical Affairs Operations projects or analyses aligned with the intern’s skills and development goals.