Arda Ural

Americas Leader for Life Sciences Sector, Ernst & Young (EY)

Arda Ural is the Americas Life Sciences leader of Ernst & Young (EY), a global professional services firm. For the last four years, he has been leading the Life Sciences sector, which is a complex business comprising of strategy, consulting, M&A, technology, tax, and assurance capabilities to surpass $2.0B in revenue with consistent profitable growth. Arda has a proven operational track record in pharma, biotech, med tech and pharmaceutical services industries with accomplishments in general management, corporate strategy, commercialization, product development, mergers, divestitures and acquisitions stretching over 30 years both in the US and globally. Prior to joining EY, Arda was a Managing Director at Accenture, where he led the firm’s Life Sciences M&A Practice. Earlier, Arda worked as a VP of Strategic Marketing and a BU Leader at Becton Dickinson, a Fortune 500 medical technology company. He also served as the SVP Marketing & Sales for a start-up biotechnology company EyeTech which went public before getting acquired by Astellas. Arda started his career with Pfizer in Istanbul, Turkey and subsequently relocated to its New York Headquarters where he held leadership roles for ten years in commercialization and new product development, such as having launched Viagra worldwide and led the $2B Celebrex business in the US to high growth. He is an inclusive talent leader, who built diverse and high-performing teams that achieved stretched goals together. His leadership style is leading from the front to make a significant impact on the businesses for which he is accountable. He is an engaged coach who over the course of his career inspired and developed his team members to further leadership roles across the industry. Importantly, he has a track record of leveraging emerging technologies to create differentiated growth opportunities. Arda has an engaged network in the industry with leadership roles across several biopharmaceutical associations. In 2024 he was recognized as a PharmaVoice 100 Standout Leader thanks to his impact on the industry. Arda was also honored as a “Global Turk par Excellence” by AmCham and Heidrich & Struggles in 2022. Specifically, he is the Chair of BioNJ C-Suite Summit and serves as a judge at the BioPartnering Program. He is also a member of BIO Business Development and Finance Committee, Advisory Board Member of NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) Biomedical Engineering Committee, a Member of In Vivo Editorial Advisory Board and a Forbes Magazine Contributor and Finance Council Member. He serves as EY’s executive liaison to Carnegie Hall in New York City and executive sponsor for Liberty Science Center, SciTech Scity Initiative. He also was a board of director for Brooklyn Conservatory of Music serving underprivileged communities. He is a frequent keynote speaker, and his thought leadership can be followed at his LinkedIn platform in addition to his professional profile at EY.com. Arda earned his PhD in Finance and an MBA from Marmara University (top of his class) whereas he completed his MSc (top of his class) in Material Science and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Boğaziçi University. He speaks German and Turkish. Arda and his wife Chala live in New Jersey and have two children.