Aklilu Tedla
Vice President & General Manager, Insights and Engagement, Regulatory Sciences, Advanced Therapy Solutions
Cardinal Health
Getting Cell and Gene Therapies to Market Faster
While only around 10 cell and gene therapies (CGT) are currently approved by the FDA, over 50 more may launch in 2024 based on the pipeline of products in Phase III clinical trials, according to McKinsey & Company. But the development, manufacturing, and logistics of these products have brought new challenges to the pharmaceutical industry, impeding patient access. With more partners and collaboration needed for CGT than for traditional drugs, there is a lack of overall connectedness. Aklilu Tedla knew what it would take to help streamline this fragmented process.
Leading multiple businesses at Cardinal Health, Aklilu oversees teams of scientists, clinical researchers, consultants, and regulatory experts. He has spent over 23 years in the healthcare industry, serving in various positions across sales, marketing, and operations. Aklilu also spent nine years in strategy and consulting roles, uniquely positioning him to continuously improve organizational structures to achieve critical business goals. Prior to his current role, Aklilu led the strategy for Cardinal Health’s Specialty Solutions business, where he identified gaps in the current portfolio and created business cases to support new initiatives. One of these initiatives includes standing up Cardinal Health’s Advanced Therapy Solutions division, which simplifies and streamlines the complexities of CGT so they can be brought to market faster.
Under Aklilu’s leadership, Advanced Therapy Solutions went from concept to launch in just under a year. Aklilu helped to uncover synergies and opportunities across the enterprise, leveraging the breadth of Cardinal Health’s services and solutions and tailoring them to meet the unique needs of CGT and the patients they treat. To date, Cardinal Health has provided regulatory consulting for 40+ advanced therapies across 12 therapeutic areas and supported 67% of commercially approved cell therapies through Cardinal Health™ 3PL Services. The team has processed more than 8k cell therapy orders with over 425 active sites of care administering treatment, which has resulted in more than $3.1 billion gross sales to date. Cardinal Health also conducts real-world evidence (RWE) studies in CGT.
As increasingly complex therapies come to market and face a multitude of challenges, companies will turn to leaders like Aklilu for answers.
