The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 The $3B Patient Recruitment Crisis: Digital Solutions | Sandra Shpilberg (Part 2/4)
Oct 2, 2025
34:35
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“If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, what was exciting at BioMarin was that we were doing new things, innovating and creating from scratch.”
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Sandra Shpilberg, Co-founder and COO at Adnexi, shares her journey from leading commercial launches at BioMarin to discovering the pivotal market gap in digital patient recruitment while at Nora Therapeutics—a realization that sparked her leap into founding her own company.
Her story weaves together the drive for innovation, deep patient connection, and the blend of professional ambition with personal priorities that shaped each career move.
Key topics covered:
- Launching Rare Disease Therapies: Lessons in pioneering, patient-focused drug launches
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Navigating teams through complex development milestones
- The Value of Patient Connection: How proximity to patients sparks real biotech innovation
- Entrepreneurship & Risk: Leaving security for startup life and bold decision-making
- Identifying Market Gaps: Spotting unmet digital enrollment needs and seizing opportunity
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Sandra Shpilberg, at these links:
Website: https://adnexi.com/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
Naglazyme Case Study: https://www.naglazyme.com/about-mps-vi
Kuvan and the National PKU Alliance Advocacy: https://www.kuvan.com/#:~:text=What%20is%20KUVAN?,Black%2C%20tarry%20stools
Patient-Centered Drug Development: Principles and Practice: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6508534/
Clinical Trial Recruitment Challenges in Rare Diseases: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3964003/
Facebook Advertising for Clinical Trial Recruitment: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30409765/
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
BioMarin Pharmaceutical: https://www.biomarin.com/
Nora Therapeutics: https://noratherapeutics.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:56 Early BioMarin Experiences and Growth
02:39 Marketing and Launching Rare Disease Therapies
05:07 Patient Connections and Advocacy Impact
06:55 Leading Cross-Functional Teams for Drug Development
09:00 Strategic Leadership and Challenges in Biotech
13:42 Core Lessons from BioMarin
18:32 Making the Leap to Nora Therapeutics
21:16 Family, Relocation, and Work-Life Balance in Startup Life
22:40 Drug Trial Challenges and Discovering Digital Enrollment Gaps
26:48 Building Solutions for Clinical Trial Recruitment
33:17 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.