Description
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, evidencebased recommendations for leadership.
Key Responsibilities:
- Conduct competitive intelligence
- Review Medical Affairsrelevant 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 vendorsupported 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 shortterm Medical Affairs Operations projects or analyses aligned with the intern's skills and development goals.
Desired Outcomes:
- A clear, evidencebased overview of how Medical Affairs organizations use social media and how Ardelyx's current approach compares to peers.
- Actionable insights and options that inform leadership discussions about the future role of social media within Ardelyx Medical Affairs, including best practices and considerations for any potential optimization or evolution of the program.
- A concise presentation and supporting documentation that Medical Affairs leadership can reference when evaluating next steps after the internship concludes.
Qualifications:
- 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, detailoriented, and comfortable working with qualitative and basic quantitative data (e.g., engagement metrics).
Preferred Skills:
- 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.
What You Will Gain:
- Handson experience at the intersection of Medical Affairs, digital engagement, and competitive intelligence.
- Exposure to how biopharmaceutical companies use social media to support scientific communications and Medical Affairs objectives.
- Experience benchmarking industry practices and developing evidencebased recommendations for senior stakeholders.
- A tangible work product (analysis, recommendations, and presentation) demonstrating your ability to evaluate digital strategies within a Medical Affairs setting.
Work Environment:
- Location ideally in or close to Waltham, MA.
The hourly rate for this Internship position is $25/hour. Ardelyx utilizes industry data to ensure that our compensation is competitive and aligned with our industry peers.
Ardelyx is an equal opportunity employer.
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Ardelyx
Mar 21, 2026