PANTHERx Rare is proud to announce that it has been awarded a 2020 Top Workplaces by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Awardees are determined by associate feedback to an anonymous survey facilitated by Energage. The survey measures 15 identified drivers of engaged cultures and successful organizations, including alignment, execution, and connection. This year PANTHERx is one of only 93 companies to make the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s List of Top Workplaces.

“PANTHERx has a rich history of success with ‘Top Workplaces Awards’. It is an immense point of pride for our organization and its leaders that our associates are happy to work at PANTHERx,” said Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy, Chairman & CEO of PANTHERx Rare. “The deep roots of our culture and laser focus of our social mission has allowed PANTHERx’s workplace atmosphere to thrive, even during these times where we cannot be physically present with each other in the same capacity that we used to be. It is amazing that PANTHERx’s culture truly transcends the walls of our offices, and instead lives in each of our associates as they carryout their duties for the benefit of our rare disease patients.”

PANTHERx Rare will be recognized among other Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Top Workplace honorees at a virtual event in the coming weeks.

About PANTHERx Rare
PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, the largest independent and fastest growing specialty pharmacy in the United States, transforms lives by delivering medicine breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Although the incidence is as common as diabetes, less than 7% of the 7,000 known rare and devastating disorders have an approved therapy. Changes in federal policy and advances in science have led to a surge in FDA orphan drug approvals, providing tremendous hope to the rare disease community.

PANTHERx was recently awarded Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) and earned the inaugural Accredited Distinction in Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). PANTHERx is a three-time winner of the prestigious MMIT Patient Choice Award, including the 2020 honor. PANTHERx is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, licensed in all 50 states, and holds accreditations from URAC, NABP, and ACHC.

About Energage
Energage offers a fully unified SaaS platform, plus support and professional services, to help organizations recruit and retain the right talent. As a B-Corporation founding member, Energage has committed itself to the purpose of making the world a better place to work together. Based on 14 years of culture research, the engine behind 51 Top Workplaces programs across the country, and data gathered from over 20 million employees at 60,000 organizations, Energage has isolated the 15 drivers of engaged cultures that are critical to the success of any business, and developed the tools and expertise to help organizations measure, shape and showcase their unique culture to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. For more information, please visit energage.com.

Celebrating the unstoppable entrepreneurs whose ambitions transform our world

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced today that Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy, Chairman & CEO of PANTHERx Rare, was named an Entrepreneur of The Year^® 2020 East Central Award finalist. Now in its 34th year, the Entrepreneur of The Year program honors entrepreneurial business leaders whose ambitions deliver innovation, growth and prosperity as they build and sustain successful businesses that transform our world. Dr. Vanscoy was selected as one of 26 finalists from nearly 100 nominations by a panel of independent judges.

Award winners will be announced through a special virtual event on October 7, 2020 and will join a lifelong community of esteemed Entrepreneur of The Year alumni from around the world. This year, unstoppable entrepreneurs who have provided extraordinary support for their communities, employees and others during the COVID-19 crisis will also be recognized for their courage, resilience and ingenuity.

Entrepreneur of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive award programs for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria, including overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur of The Year National Awards, to be announced in November during a virtual awards gala. The Entrepreneur of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of The Year™ Award in June 2021.

Entrepreneur of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation.

In East Central, sponsors also include PNC Bank, VRC, Morgan Lewis, Oswald Companies, and Smart Business.

About Entrepreneur of The Year^®

Entrepreneur of The Year^® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. Winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of The Year™ title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/private

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, strategy, transaction and consulting services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy announces that it has, for a 5th time, been named to the Inc. 5000 list, celebrating the fastest-growing private companies in America. PANTHERx is being recognized on this prestigious national list in the top 25% of fastest growing companies overall and the 83rd fastest growing company in Health.

Click here to view PANTHERx’s Inc. 5,000 profile.

About Our Inc. Standings
Over the last 40+ years, tens of thousands of companies have applied to the Inc. 5,000 and only a fraction have made the list more than once. This year PANTHERx Rare joins an exclusive group, the Inc. 5000 Honor Roll, recognizing companies that have made the list 5 or more times. PANTHERx’s standings over the last 5 years have included the following ranks; #1,154 (2020), #268 (2019), #49 (2018), #65 (2017), and #9 (2016).

“PANTHERx Rare is proud to be ranked on the Inc. 5,000 list for a fifth consecutive year. Although our magnitude of absolute growth is higher than ever, once you build a multi-billion dollar business, you can’t grow at the rates we did when we were smaller. In the time since PANTHERx made its debut on the Inc. 5,000 list we have opened a new state-of-the-art facility, launched a new brand, created a new industry (rare pharmacy), added numerous associates and partners to the PANTHERx family, and, most importantly, positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of rare disease patients across the US,” said Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy, Chairman and CEO. “We continue to innovative and advance the rare pharmacy industry, evolving to meet new challenges that address the needs of our partners, prescribers, and our patients.”

PANTHERx Rare will be recognized among other Inc. 5000 honorees at the Inc. 5000 Vision Conference, a weeklong virtual event and celebration, taking place October 19-23, 2020.

About PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy
PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, the largest independent and fastest growing specialty pharmacy in the United States, transforms lives by delivering medicine breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Although the incidence is as common as diabetes, less than 7% of the 7,000 known rare and devastating disorders have an approved therapy. Changes in federal policy and advances in science have led to a surge in FDA orphan drug approvals, providing tremendous hope to the rare disease community.

PANTHERx was recently awarded Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) and earned the inaugural Accredited Distinction in Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). PANTHERx is a three-time winner of the prestigious MMIT Patient Choice Award, including the 2020 honor. PANTHERx is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, licensed in all 50 states, and holds accreditations from URAC, NABP, and ACHC.

In accordance with CDC guidelines, PANTHERx has taken a multitude of steps and implemented safety measures for the health and wellbeing of our patients, associates, and their families.

Over the last several months, we have announced or reported changes to policies and procedures as they have arisen. We are grateful for the flexibility and adaptability of our PANTHERx team and remain confident that we will continue to provide excellent care to our patients, service to our partners, and support to our associates.

In order to remain transparent with our stakeholders, PANTHERx would like to share the following additional enhanced safety measures that have been implemented in our facilities:

1. All onsite visitors including associates, delivery personnel, etc. receive a mandatory health check & temperature screening upon entering the facility.
2. Our pharmacy has been fitted with improved protective barriers to distance pharmacists from each other.
3. In additional to our typical janitorial practices and expanded associate cleaning initiatives, we have implemented hospital grade disinfectant fogging in our pharmacy.

The leadership at PANTHERx Rare continues to closely monitor the ongoing developments related to the concerns arising from the impact of COVID-19. As additional information becomes available and guidelines adapt, we will build and execute appropriate contingency protocols and provide details as necessary.

For more information about PANTHERx Rare’s COVID-19 response & action plan, please visit our homepage or click here.

PANTHERx Rare is proud to congratulate our Marketing Specialist, Ally Ayoob, on her recognition as a 2020 Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30 honoree. Each year, The Pittsburgh Business Times identifies 30 individuals under the age of 30 years, who have accomplished exceptional career milestones and made great contributions to our Pittsburgh community. The 2020 honorees represent a wide range of industries, including rare pharmacy services, law, technology, manufacturing, and more.

“I am sincerely honored to be recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times as a 30 Under 30 awardee,” said Ally Ayoob. “I share the honor with PANTHERx Rare, an organization whose brand and I have grown tremendously together over the past 2 years. I am proud of my efforts to reinvigorate PANTHERx’s brand, showcasing our authentic dedication to the rare disease community and our commitment to propelling the industry forward. Our brand reflects this now more than ever and I savor the challenge and opportunity of serving as it steward as we continue our mission to define rare and serve the people most in need of our care.”

Numerous previous recipients of the 30 Under 30 award continue to influence Pittsburgh’s businesses, serving as executives, innovators, and thought leaders in our organizations and communities. Click here to meet the 30 Under 30 Class of 2020.

About Ally Ayoob
As PANTHERx Rare’s Marketing Specialist, Ally leads the effort to create and share the company’s image and messaging to both internal associates as well as external prospects and stakeholders. Her creativity is demonstrated in PANTHERx Rare’s recent rebrand, the company’s new website, biopharma and payor presentations, physician campaigns, and patient materials. Her collaboration with all PANTHERx departments reveals her passion for PANTHER’s mission and vision, as well as her perseverance to achieve perfection in delivering the company’s message. Ally graduated from the University of Dayton in 2018 where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with degrees in Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

About PANTHERx Rare
PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, the largest independent and fastest growing specialty pharmacy in the United States, transforms lives by delivering medicine breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Although the incidence is as common as diabetes, less than 7% of the 7,000 known rare and devastating disorders have an approved therapy. Changes in federal policy and advances in science have led to a surge in FDA orphan drug approvals, providing tremendous hope to the rare disease community.

PANTHERx was recently awarded Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) and earned the inaugural Accredited Distinction in Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). PANTHERx is a three-time winner of the prestigious MMIT Patient Choice Award including the 2020 honor. PANTHERx is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, licensed in all 50 states, and holds accreditations from URAC, NABP, ACHC, and CPPA.

At PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy we provide our patients with resources to support and streamline their health journeys. In addition to our 24/7 call services, PANTHERx has implemented a mobile messaging that offers onboarding messages, refill reminders, and shipment tracking information to our rare disease patients via text message.

Employing this texting platform has increased the effectiveness of our communication with our patients, allowing them to customize how they receive correspondence from us. The PANTHERx patients that have enrolled in the mobile messaging system find it to be a convenient way to receive reminders and stay on top of their medications. The platform has improved self-service success rates by simply delivering the specific tools and resources our patients need as part of their regular refill and shipping processes.

Becoming a user is simple. As a patient you’re able to enroll during your regularly scheduled refill calls. If you decline this mobile service at first and decide later that you would like to enroll, inform your Patient Care Coordinator at any time or during your next refill call. All of PANTHERx’s rare drug programs are currently eligible for enrollment in our texting program.

We want our patients to know that they are fully supported and that our services are able to be customized to fit their unique needs. PANTHERx feels strongly about guiding our patients through their health journeys and assisting them through multiple avenues of communication. Providing this mobile messaging service to our patients has allowed them to be more aware of their upcoming milestones and has also given our patients more flexible communication options.

For questions about PANTHERx’s mobile messaging service or to enroll in the program, please speak with your Patient Care Coordinator.

Yesterday, PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy celebrated the achievements of our 2020 fellowship class. Graduates, Marissa Puc, Pharm.D., and Brittany Albert, Pharm.D., delivered their final presentations and received their certificates in recognition of their completion of the PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy Fellowship Program. Under the guidance of program director Richard Faris, Ph.D., R.Ph. and program coordinator Pam Koerner, Pharm.D., BCPS, Dr. Puc and Dr. Albert underwent intensive training in Business & Pharmacy Operations, Quality Improvement, Clinical & Education, Pharmacy Analytics & Reporting, Business Development, Strategic Partnerships, and Managed Markets as part of their year long experience.

Upon completion of their fellowships, both Dr. Puc and Dr. Albert have accepted positions at PANTHERx Rare. We are pleased that they will continue to grow within our organization, drawing on the experiences afforded them by our transformational Fellowship Program.

About the PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy Fellowship

The PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy Fellowship is a one-year program that offers an estimated three years of rare pharmacy experience, enabling each fellow’s competence in the clinical, research, and business aspects of rare pharmacy leadership. PANTHERx®’s Fellowship Program has been growing in size and rigor since its inception in 2017. The 2021 Fellowship class is to be the largest yet, with enriching cross functional experiences and an increased focus on patient engagement, research, data-driven program design, precision medicine, and scientific publications.

For more information about PANTHERx’s Rare Pharmacy Fellowship Program please visit: https://www.pantherxrare.com/education/

Dr. Gordon Vanscoy, Chairman and CEO of PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy and RareMed Solutions, is honored to be headlining the April 2020 cover of Smart Business Magazine. The magazine features an interview that explores his approach to leadership, adaptability, and culture. Vanscoy discusses how these three qualities were vital to evolving the rare segment of the specialty pharmacy industry. The publication is timely as these qualities are essential to the proactive, nimble, and focused approach PANTHERx and RareMed have taken in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Both highly complex operations, PANTHERx and RareMed provide different services to people who are living with rare and devastating conditions. The companies’ cultures, built around clear missions and strong values, have been paramount in enabling Vanscoy and his team to adeptly pilot the companies through change. These cultures did not come about by accident, and they continue to need to be carefully nurtured and institutionalized. Vanscoy and his team encourage associates to embody values that support the fact that, no matter their role, their work ultimately contributes to saving lives.

As the coronavirus pandemic has escalated, it has been culture that has underscored the teams’ sense of responsibility to the patients they serve. This has resulted in uninterrupted dispensing of breakthrough medications, employees proactively taking on flexible schedules, and team members asking leadership what they can do to go beyond the call of duty to support the patients who rely on their services.

Vanscoy’s leadership, his embracing of managerial empowerment, and his passion for rare disease have resulted in two independent, disruptive, agile, savvy, and compassionate companies with strong corporate cultures. The article describes how his philosophies and guidance have created organizations poised to take on anything that comes their way, including lofty internal goals and external challenges.

Read Vanscoy’s cover story in Smart Business Magazine.

Look out for the print edition, available on April 1st.

A lot has changed since PANTHERx released our first public statement nearly a month ago and we have been incredibly busy staying ahead of the curve. In Pennsylvania (home to two of multiple licensed facilities), schools and businesses have been forced to close leaving many reacting and scrambling to survive. In PANTHERx’s case, we don’t have patrons, we have patients; we don’t have a business, we have a vital mission to serve those with rare and devastating disorders without interruption, without compromise. PANTHERx’s thousands and thousands of rare patients rely on us to deliver their life saving medications and the corresponding care and we will not disappoint.

When whisperings of the coronavirus extended beyond China and were forecast to the hit the US, PANTHERx’s emergency preparedness plan was activated. We took our patient responsibility seriously, and began to plan the specifics around COVID-19. As the planning unfolded into reality, it has made all the difference informing our patients proactively (before we received questions), establishing and enforcing staged safety protocols, expanding work from home policies and flexible hours for employees with children home from school, and communicating with our providers, partners, payers and suppliers in a timely manner so that they could focus on their contingency plans and not be concerned about PANTHERx. We have been reassured by our biopharma manufacturers that production and supplies of their breakthrough medications will not be an issue.

Due to the vital nature of our mission, PANTHERx is classified as “essential” and will remain open to service the patients that rely on the medications we dispense and the support services we provide. Thanks to our nimbleness, early planning, and dedicated associates PANTHERx is continuing to serve patients at the level that they have come to expect from our award-winning company. That’s not to say that operations appear “normal” in our facilities—many desks are empty as employees work from home. Once in the facility pharmacy workers adorn protective gloves and facemasks (from our original emergency preparedness plan), and cleaning solutions and hand sanitizer are everywhere for employees to disinfect work surfaces at minimum three times a day. PANTHERx’s flexibility and advanced technology has adapted to keep our associates safe as they service our patients. Advanced planning and committed employees have made a remarkable difference. We can confidently and calmly execute as One PANTHERx reacts to the evolving implications of COVID-19, armed with a comprehensive 5 Phase COVID-19 Plan that accounts for all anticipated scenarios. Now operating on Level 3, PANTHERx is prepared as the coronavirus pandemic develops and new rules/restrictions are put in place.

As the situation unfolds, PANTHERx remains diligent and continues to keep our patients and other constituents informed. You can read our up-to-the-minute plan for uninterrupted service by visiting our home page or by going directly to our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Updates page.

At PANTHERx we often have the pleasure of getting to know not only our patients but also their families. Parents, children, and siblings can serve as caregivers and support to their loved ones who are living with rare conditions. Sometimes though our RxARECARE^® teams get to know families because these genetic diseases effect multiple members of the family who then share the roles of patient, caregiver, support system, and inspiration.

Dale has been living with Primary Periodic Paralysis (PPP) for over eight decades, but he has not let it slow him down. As a young man, Dale worked around his “weak spells” finding and excelling at jobs that began later in the day, so the morning effects of his PPP had time to wear off. With a zeal for travel, Dale and his wife have driven tens of thousands of miles around the country to visit friends and see new sites.

Now a great-grandfather, Dale is not the only person in his family living with PPP. Dale’s daughter Kim and his grandson Geoff share his diagnosis. Their family is honest about the struggles of growing up and living with familial PPP but they find comradery in their shared experiences.

PANTHERx, the exclusive provider of Dale, Kim, and Geoff’s medication, is proud to serve three generations of their extraordinary family. We provide individualized attention, and comprehensive medication coordination so Dale can plan his next road trip, Kim can focus on her advocacy initiatives, and Geoff can play with his young son.

Over the course of his life Dale has seen the rare disease community and the rare pharmaceutical industry form and grow. He and his family attended the first Primary Periodic Paralysis conference and have found joy in connecting with people who share their disease and in creating awareness around the many forms of PPP.

Dale’s full video and profile can be found on our Primary Periodic Paralysis (PPP) Rare Disorders page.

If you would like to be considered for a PANTHERx Patient Profile please contact Ally Ayoob, Marketing Specialist, at aayoob@pantherxrare.com.