boltKey Takeaways
- From biosimilars to CDMO. Rezon Bio grew out of Polpharma Biologics, which developed and commercialized two biosimilars with a big pharma partner. When the team saw its capacity wasn't fully used, the business split in two. Polpharma Biologics kept the biosimilars, and Rezon Bio took on CDMO work, along with most of the people and the sites in Gdańsk and Warsaw.
- Leadership means building the environment. During her PhD, Adriana saw that groups who share expertise and challenge each other have more impact than individuals. She calls herself a team player, not an individual contributor, and sees her job as creating the conditions for others to grow.
- Autonomy has to be balanced. How much autonomy a team gets depends on the company's stage and the team's maturity. Senior people will leave without it, while less experienced people need more structure. When there's no time for debate, a leader still has to make the call under uncertainty.
- Hire for mindset over expertise. Her most painful hiring mistakes came from putting expertise ahead of ownership, adaptability and a focus on others. Now she looks for pragmatic people who look for solutions rather than obstacles and who take a broad view of the business.
- Regulatory, manufacturing and quality talent is scarce. Regulatory specialists who can support a project from the early stages are in short supply, and getting to market faster is what wins clients. Manufacturing hires take around a year to onboard, and shift and weekend work makes those roles harder to fill. Quality people who stay adaptable without compromising on compliance are rare.
- Plan ahead and protect your talent. Notice periods in Europe often run three to six months, and work permits add more time for candidates from Asia. Her advice for leaders in 2026 and 2027: watch the market closely, plan for risk and hold on to good people. Build digital and AI capabilities through a balance of internal development and external hires.
Written by
Charlie Bexon
Senior Group Business Manager · Metric BIO
Global CRDMO recruiter and APAC expert.
