Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy

Dr. Gordon Vanscoy launched a pioneering biopharmacy that gives hope and health care to patients with rare diseases.

Dr. Gordon Vanscoy founded PANTHERx Rare pharmacy in 2011, providing hope and groundbreaking therapies to patients with rare disorders. In the past 10 years, he has grown the company from a startup to a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

Gordon had always admired the role that local pharmacists played in his community, so it was no surprise when he decided to study Pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh, later becoming a faculty member. Over the years, he noticed that patients who suffered from rare illnesses were poorly served by large pharmacy chains. So together with three former students, Gordon launched PANTHERx Rare in a garage, delivering limited-distribution, difficult-to-manage, life-saving medications to patients with rare disorders. In 2018, Gordon identified and capitalized on another niche market and launched RareMed Solutions, a rapidly growing rare disease therapeutic patient services provider. Then in late 2020, PANTHERx Rare was acquired by Centene, a Fortune 50 corporation.

Gordon firmly believes that the company’s main responsibility is to the patient and tells his teammates to treat every client as if they were family. “To be present for these people who have struggled, persevered and been fortunate enough to have a medication that works for them means everything to RareMed and PANTHERx,” he says. The archaic processes limiting access to orphan drugs are changing around the world, and Gordon sees global opportunities to bring hope.

*Information correct as of June 2021.