Akeel Williams
VP, Strategy & Operations / GM, GoodRx for Providers
GoodRx
A Calling to Improve Healthcare
Both of Akeel Williams’ parents were entrepreneurs, and he grew up without health insurance. When he got his first “real” job with health insurance, he added his mom to his coverage. When he changed jobs a few years later and his insurance could no longer cover her, she went back to piecemealing her healthcare from free clinics, physician friends, and skipping care when she had to make financial tradeoffs. Unfortunately, not long after she passed away from undertreated cardiac issues. Soon after this, Akeel became fully committed to working in healthcare, selling and promoting some of the very medications that may have prolonged her life.
Since then, he has worked in pharmaceuticals (Sanofi-Aventis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, Gilead), medical supply chain (McKesson), and tech-driven healthcare services (GoodRx). No matter the role, Akeel has been drawn to bold visions for improving access, care delivery, and innovation in healthcare. At Novo Nordisk, he paved the way for today’s blockbuster medicines in diabetes care, helping to launch one of the first GLP-1 medications.
In his most recent role at GoodRx, Akeel is helping to build the Pharma Manufacturer Solutions business organically and pivoting the company from drug coupons to a broad portfolio of awareness, access, and adherence solutions that help patients, providers, and pharma. In 2022, he led the development and launch of the company’s Provider Mode platform. According to Akeel, “GoodRx set a high bar over the past 11 years in serving its consumer and HCP customers, so focusing specifically on a new suite of HCP solutions meant there was very little room for error. Fortunately, my early experiences in pharma gave me insights into the daily workflows and challenges providers face, and that contributed to a successful design, build, and launch.” He nailed it, growing the HCP user base to 900,000 just six months after launch.
Garrett Muramoto, SVP Corporate Strategy & Business Development, McKesson, says, “Akeel is driven by the impact of his work and the outcomes he can ultimately deliver for patients. He truly enjoys the challenge of the problems that healthcare presents, and I think our industry, and the people we serve, are very lucky he does.”
