PANTHERx is proud to congratulate our Controller, Tim Kelly, on his recognition as a 2019 Pittsburgh Business Times CFO of the Year honoree. Each year, The Pittsburgh Business Times recognizes financial professionals in western Pennsylvania for their outstanding performance as corporate financial stewards. The 2019 honorees represent the diversity of Pittsburgh’s industries and were chosen by an independent panel of judges.

The 2019 CFO of the Year award program will be held at a celebratory reception on November 6th at the Omni William Penn.

Click here to read more about Tim Kelly and his role at PANTHERx.

About PANTHERx Rare
PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PANTHERx Rare’s mission is to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Every day we Define RxARE®, by developing focused solutions, bold innovations, and novel clinical services associated with the life-transforming therapies that we deliver.
PANTHERx was awarded 2018 Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy as well as the American Pharmacy Purchasing Alliance. Zitter Health Insights awarded PANTHERx the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for both 2017 and 2018. As a quad-accredited pharmacy, PANTHERx holds accreditations from URAC, VIPPS, ACHC, and CPPA.

PANTHERx is delighted to announce that we are a winner of the 2019 Pittsburgh Business Times Best Places to Work Award.

Over the past year PANTHERx has experienced tremendous growth and change; opening a third location, reimagining our brand, and introducing new leadership to the team. Through all the restructuring, policy enhancements, and planned growth of the business, PANTHERx recognized that we never wanted to lose our unique identity. Instead, PANTHERx strengthened our values, focused on our mission, and created community within our company. Winning this award is a clear indication that our culture is strong and that our employees are happy at work.

“We are One PANTHERx,” explains PANTHERx Chairman & CEO, Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy. “Although PANTHERx consists of hundreds of hard-working people from multiple locations, we are one company working toward one common goal: improving the health of our rare disease patients. This award validates that our associates not only understand our meaningful mission but have taken it on as their own and are thriving in the environment that PANTHERx has worked so hard to create.”

PANTHERx has always cultivated talent and encouraged growth inside our organization. Employees who are able to explore their interests and develop their careers, who are encouraged to treat colleagues as extended family, and who are proud of the work they do, naturally exude more positivity to colleagues, partners, and patients. PANTHERx takes pride in knowing that our culture benefits our associates and the people we serve.

About Best Places to Work
The Best Places to Work Award gives employees an opportunity to rate and comment about the environments fostered by their companies. After a detailed survey and review process, the companies that receive the highest scores from their employees are recognized as having uniquely positive company cultures. Awards for the 2019 Best Places to Work winners will be distributed on October 17th at a ceremony held by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

About PANTHERx
PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PANTHERx Rare’s mission is to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Every day we Define RxARE®, by developing focused solutions, bold innovations, and novel clinical services associated with the life-transforming therapies that we deliver.

PANTHERx was awarded 2018 Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy as well as the American Pharmacy Purchasing Alliance. Zitter Health Insights awarded PANTHERx the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for both 2017 and 2018. As a quad-accredited pharmacy, PANTHERx holds accreditations from URAC, VIPPS, ACHC, and CPPA.

Click here to read the full press release.  

As the medical community has learned more about rare diseases and the complex medications and models used to treat rare disease patients, rare pharmacy has emerged as a growing sub-section of specialty pharmacy with its own unique domain of knowledge and skills. With this in mind, URAC has called on the expertise of industry leaders including PANTHERx and the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) to participate in an advisory panel to develop a rare disease recognition program.

It is often difficult for patients with rare diseases to receive an accurate diagnosis, and even then, it is difficult to make sure these patients receive proper supportive expertise and treatment. Rare disease care becomes even more complex when we consider not only the patients, but the caregivers, biopharma partners, payers, and prescribers as well. The needs of these groups must be addressed and continuously managed by the specialty pharmacy. A rare disease recognition program will assist providers to properly deliver therapies to patients living with rare diseases by accrediting specialty pharmacies who provide the necessary standard of care to properly aid patients suffering from rare conditions.

“The development of a rare disease recognition program is a natural evolution of the work URAC performs in specialty pharmacy accreditation,” according the Shawn Griffin, MD, URAC president and CEO. “Our goal is to recruit expert panelists including clinical providers, pharmacists, hub providers, rare disease consultants and biopharma representatives to inform the development of standards. We envision that a rare disease pharmacy recognition program will build upon the essential role that pharmacists and other health professionals play in the management and education of individuals with rare diseases.”

“PANTHERx is honored to be collaborating with our national accrediting bodies to create quality standards for rare pharmacy designation”, according to Dr. Gordon Vanscoy, PANTHERx CEO and Chairman. “Rare pharmacy represents a growing sub-specialty that has a unique domain of knowledge and skills, including nuanced biopharma partnering, orphan product distribution, financial and clinical support, payer contracting, near-real-time data management and reporting, and white-glove service that each patient deserves. This initiative must be stakeholder inclusive and establish a stringent set of quality standards for rare pharmacies because our patients deserve it.”

Join the Discussion

URAC is seeking other organizations who wish to serve on this Rare Disease Advisory Panel. As an independent accreditor, URAC will convene stakeholders to develop this recognition program with clear standards and evidence of performance. The Advisory Panel will convene via webex facilitated discussions for a total of 5 to 6 one-hour sessions.

Selection of participants for the Rare Disease Advisory Panel will reflect the diversity of key healthcare stakeholders in accordance with URAC’s Conflict of Interest Policy. Members are selected based upon their expertise, their potential contribution, and the need for input from a stakeholder perspective.

Any interested party wishing to participate can do so by contacting Robin Adams at 202-862-8835 or radams@urac.org by July 31, 2019.

About PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy

PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PANTHERx Rare’s mission is to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Every day we create ways to Define RxARE®, by developing focused solutions, bold innovations, and novel clinical services associated with the life-transforming therapies that we deliver.

PANTHERx was awarded 2018 Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy as well as the American Pharmacy Purchasing Alliance. Zitter Health Insights awarded PANTHERx the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for both 2017 and 2018. As a quad-accredited pharmacy, PANTHERx holds accreditations from URAC, VIPPS, ACHC, and CPPA.

About URAC

Founded in 1990, URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through leadership, accreditation, measurement and innovation. URAC is a nonprofit organization using evidence-based measures and developing standards through inclusive engagement with a range of stakeholders committed to improving the quality of healthcare. Our portfolio of accreditation and certification programs span the healthcare industry, addressing healthcare management, healthcare operations, health plans, pharmacies, telehealth providers, physician practices, and more. URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

As part of the PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy Fellowship Program, our 2018-2019 fellows, Olivia Goss, Pharm.D., and Brandon Barry, Pharm.D., conducted research and presented their findings at the 2019 AMCP Conference. As our fellowship year draws to a close, we reflect on the research results of our fellows:

About the Research Projects
Dr. Goss centered her research around analysis of demographic and clinical differences between patients taking valbenazine 40 mg once daily and patients taking valbenazine 80 mg once daily. Valbenazine is a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitor indicated for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in adult patients. Valbenazine is available in 40 mg and 80 mg capsules, with FDA-labeling recommending patients begin therapy with one 40 mg capsule by mouth daily for one week, then titrate to one 80 mg capsule daily thereafter. However, the labeling also states, “continuation of the 40 mg capsule may be appropriate for some patients.” The definition of that patient population is not provided in the labeling.

A retrospective database analysis was completed on all patients receiving valbenazine between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. Data was collected from a single specialty pharmacy and variables of interest included patient demographics, medication profile, prescriber base (specialist vs. generalist), and adherence rates.

Based on this study, it was concluded that the 40 mg daily dose of valbenazine was more commonly utilized in females and patients aged 65 and older. Further research into the differences in each of these cohorts could provide key insights and optimize outcomes for patients living with tardive dyskinesia.
Click here to review Dr. Goss’s research poster:PANTHERx Valbenzine Research Poster

Dr. Barry’s research explored the value of medication specific referral forms and aimed to determine if targeted changes to manufacturer-developed referral forms resulted in fewer discrepancies, prescriber clarifications, and impacted initial turnaround time for specialty medications. The study examined 3 different therapies and utilized 200 randomly selected enrollment forms from each.

It was concluded that there is measurable value in medication specific enrollment forms. Targeted referral form changes can lead to a reduction in the need for clarifications between the specialty pharmacy and the prescriber. The study did not find any meaningful change in the rate of patient consent between manufacturer-developed and drug-specific enrollment forms. Notably, it was discovered that referral form discrepancies had minimal impact on initial medication turnaround times for patients.
Click here to review Dr. Barry’s research poster:PANTHERx Referral Form Research Poster

PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy, the industry leading independent national specialty pharmacy, has been selected by Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as a limited pharmacy network provider of its new once-daily oral antibiotic, Nuzyra™ (omadacycline). Nuzyra™ is a tetracycline class antibacterial approved to treat adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).

PANTHERx understands the unique and urgent nature of anti-infective therapy management and has created a clinical protocol to meet the needs of all Nuzyra™ patients. Every Nuzyra™ patient at PANTHERx is guided through their journey by knowledgeable members of our staff who understand their conditions and the critical timeline for treatment. PANTHERx provides 24/7 clinical management, patient education, financial assistance support, and therapy adherence monitoring for our Nuzyra™ patients.

Approved in October 2018, Nuzyra™ is manufactured and marketed by Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Additional information about Nuzyra™ and resources for patient support are available through Nuzyra Central™ and can be found at www.nuzyra.com/hcp/nuzyra-central.

About PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy
PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PANTHERx Specialty’s mission is to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Every day we create ways to Reinvent Specialty, Revolutionize Pharmacy, and Redefine Care®, by developing focused solutions, bold innovations, and novel clinical services associated with the life-transforming therapies that we deliver.

PANTHERx was awarded 2018 Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy as well as the American Pharmacy Purchasing Alliance. Zitter Health Insights awarded PANTHERx the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for both 2017 and 2018. As a quad-accredited pharmacy, PANTHERx holds accreditations from VIPPS, ACHC, URAC, and CPPA.

Last week PANTHERx participated in the 2019 Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas, NV, where we met with partners, announced strategic collaborations, unveiled the new PANTHERx brand, and shared insights about the state-of-the-art rare and orphan drugs in the specialty pharmacy industry. We are delighted to have been a part of Asembia for yet another year, especially as this one was particularly exciting for PANTHERx. As always, our patients were on our minds as we attended this summit, and we wanted our partners and peers to be thinking about them as well.

DELIVERxING Hope to Patients with Rare Diseases
During Asembia , PANTHERx Chairman & CEO, Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy delivered a talk titled DELIVERxING Hope to Patients with Rare Diseases: Improving Orphan/Precision Medicine Channels. His talk was well attended, and Dr. Vanscoy was able to share PANTHERx’s patient-focused mission and explain how PANTHERx is ideally positioned to manage complex treatments and unique patient journeys.
A review of Vanscoy’s speaker session can be read on the Specialty Pharmacy Continuum website: https://www.specialtypharmacycontinuum.com/Online-First/Article/05-19/Prepare-for-Growth-in-Precision-Orphan-Drugs-Expert-Says/54834

Supporting Organizations that Support Our Patients
PANTHERx not only wanted to discuss the importance of putting patients first, we wanted to involve our partners and colleagues in a way that would impact our patients directly. During our “Sweets in the PANTHERx Suite” event on Sunday evening prior to Asembia, PANTHERx gave each of our event attendees the opportunity to help PANTHERx support organizations that support our patients. Attendees could choose to allocate a specified dollar value to either Global Genes, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, or the American Cancer Society, that PANTHERx would donate on their behalf. The result was thousands of dollars in donations from PANTHERx to these deserving support organizations.

We thank Asembia for this meeting platform and for providing us an opportunity to further our mission, create awareness for disease states that we support, and provide hope and support to our patients.

We are excited to announce that PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy has been selected as a finalist in the category of Retail/Independent/Hospital and Health System Specialty Pharmacies for the 2019 Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Awards. Our status in this category is a direct result of our outstanding patient satisfaction scores from the Zitter Insights Specialty Pharmacy Patient Satisfaction Surveys.

About the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Awards
Created by Zitter Health Insights and the Specialty Pharmacy Times®, The Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award honors specialty pharmacies for their commitment to patients. This award represents the highest quality in customer service and optimal patient care by a specialty pharmacy. The criteria for this award were formulated by an external committee comprising individuals representing pharmaceutical manufacturers, payers, trade organizations, consultants and equity research firms. Repeatedly receiving this coveted award recognizes an ongoing commitment to providing best-in-class customer satisfaction and overall patient care, measured by the patient satisfaction ratings. PANTHERx® is the winner of two consecutive annual Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Awards™ for patient satisfaction in 2017 and in 2018.

About The Survey and PANTHERx’s Patient Responses
The Zitter Health Insights survey, the nation’s standard for externally validated and scientifically rigorous specialty pharmacy patient satisfaction review, assesses numerous aspects of patient satisfaction and analyzes responses from ~4,000 specialty pharmacy patients across 10+ therapeutic areas and the top 10 specialty pharmacies every year. The survey’s primary metric is the widely recognized Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is compiled by asking patients, on a scale of 0 to 10, how likely they would be to recommend their specialty pharmacy to a friend or family member. PANTHERx consistently receives high NPS scores among independent SPs and has been recognized as #1 in “patient satisfaction about time to speak with a live person”.

“PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy is extremely honored and humbled to be recognized for another year as a finalist for the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Awards,” said Dr. Gordon Vanscoy, Chairman & CEO of PANTHERx. “Our involvement in the Zitter Health Patient Surveys has afforded us a temporal validation that our mission to redefine the level of care provided in specialty pharmacy is being recognized by the rare disease patients whom we serve on a daily basis. PANTHERx has invested, and continues to invest, heavily in improving patient outcomes, which include both patient satisfaction and improved health. We desire for our patients to feel that they are receiving the greatest level of care available to them, and being a Zitter Patient Choice Award finalist reinforces to both our organization and our patients, that PANTHERx is consistently delivering that greatest level of care.”

PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, unveiled a new, sophisticated and modern brand identity today while simultaneously announcing a new, state-of-the-art third location. This past year. PANTHERx continued to grow and innovate, welcoming new members to its leadership team, winning many new biopharma contracts, and celebrating accolades such as NASP’s Specialty Pharmacy of the Year and the title of one of the Fastest Growing Companies in the country according to Inc. Magazine.

“As a fast-growing company, PANTHERx realized that we were running out of space in our two existing facilities,” said Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy, Chairman & CEO of PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy. “While planning the launch of our third location, in the midst of other organizational enhancements, we realized that PANTHERx was at a pivotal moment. Our original branding was the platform for our current success, but we needed our branding to reflect our uniqueness in the market, our incredible growth as a company, our laser focus on patient care, our disruptive approach to specialty pharmacy, and our aggressive plans for the future.”

PANTHERx: Facility #3

PANTHERx’s third location, near the Pittsburgh International Airport, will add nearly 50,000 square feet of state-of-the-art operational capacity to PANTHERx’s operations. The third site will join current facilities in Pittsburgh and Canfield, Ohio. This new location will give PANTHERx the ability to stay ahead of operational needs and fulfill our bold mission to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions.

“We are excited about adding needed capacity to help PANTHERx deliver our award-winning white glove service to patients. This new facility will foster growth in our RxARECARE teams that provide unparalleled service to patients who need exclusive- and limited-distribution orphan drugs (including oncologics) and precision medicines,” states Dr. Vanscoy. “Together with all of the other enhancements, the brand-new facility and new brand image signify that the future of PANTHERx is here.”

PANTHERx: The New Look

PANTHERx’s new brand image will be found on a soon-to-be-launched, easy-to-navigate, updated, website which will include simplified messaging and sleek new corporate graphics. PANTHERx’s refreshed branding draws from the best elements of the original imagery, but includes modernized fonts, fresh new colors, and most notably, the integration of a multi-dimensional, silver panther that is visibly leaping forward out of the PANTHERx name. Though crafted professionally, PANTHERx’s new image was developed with feedback from patients, partners, and friends of PANTHERx, who should expect to see the new images replacing the old in the coming weeks.

About PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy
PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, is the industry’s leading, independent national specialty pharmacy is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Every day, PANTHERx creates ways to Reinvent Specialty, Revolutionize Pharmacy, and Redefine Care®, by developing focused solutions, bold innovations, and novel clinical services associated with the life-transforming therapies that the company delivers.

PANTHERx is quadruple-accredited and was awarded as the 2018-2019 Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP). Zitter Health Insights awarded PANTHERx the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for both 2017-18 and 2018-19. Additionally, PANTHERx was ranked #49 in the 2018 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies in the nation, its third consecutive top 100 ranking, and a Best Place to Work in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine for 2018.

Click here to read the official press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pantherx-specialty-pharmacy-announces-a-new-brand-look–brand-new-facility-300839599.html

The Press Release that follows was published by Cardinal Health to formally announce the collaboration between PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy and Cardinal Health. To read the official press release, click here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cardinal-health-specialty-solutions-strengthens-cell-and-gene-therapy-offering-with-pantherx-specialty-pharmacy-collaboration-300839030.html

To meet the growing needs of the market, Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions has strengthened its cell and gene therapy capability with a coordinated suite of specialty distribution, third-party logistics (3PL) services, and specialty pharmacy dispensing services. As part of this offering, Cardinal Health is announcing a collaboration with PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy.

PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy, THE Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy®, is the industry’s leading, independent national specialty pharmacy. PANTHERx’s mission is to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions.

Cardinal Health has been delivering services for cell and gene therapies over the past few years using a “buy and bill” model, but identified an opportunity to augment its offering with specialty pharmacy services for manufacturers who require a different reimbursement approach.

“Our current work in cell and gene therapy has helped us recognize that manufacturers want to customize their channel plans for these high-touch products – and that may include using a specialty pharmacy. We are excited about our collaboration with PANTHERx because of their excellent reputation and deep experience with rare diseases. While we coordinate with many specialty pharmacies based on our clients’ needs, we believe our relationship with PANTHERx gives us a unique advantage in the market,” said Joe DePinto, President of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions.

“PANTHERx’s collaboration with Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions in cell and gene therapy is unique and compelling. This relationship produces easier, more successful precision medicine launches, increased speed to therapy, and enhanced outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy. “This alliance with Cardinal Health generates real synergies as a result of our respective best-in-class businesses, a mutual desire to disrupt a fragmented distribution channel, and a shared can-do attitude. I am confident that our collaboration will generate tangible benefits for patients while dramatically simplifying the process for our biopharma partners.”

Through its coordinated cell and gene offering, Cardinal Health provides manufacturers of precision medicines with a single source for distribution, 3PL services including order-to-cash management and reimbursement risk coverage through the 3PL title model, and specialty pharmacy dispensing. The company also supports cell and gene therapies with logistics and patient access services.

About Cardinal Health
Cardinal Health, Inc. is a global, integrated healthcare services and products company, providing customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and physician offices worldwide. The company provides clinically proven medical products, pharmaceuticals and cost-effective solutions that enhance supply chain efficiency from hospital to home. Cardinal Health connects patients, providers, payers, pharmacists and manufacturers for integrated care coordination and better patient management. To help combat prescription drug abuse, the company and its education partners created Generation Rx, a national drug education and awareness program. Backed by nearly 100 years of experience, with approximately 50,000 employees in nearly 60 countries, Cardinal Health ranks #14 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit cardinalhealth.com, follow @CardinalHealth on Twitter, Cardinal Health on Facebook and connect on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/ company/cardinal-health.

About PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy
PANTHERx Specialty Pharmacy, The Rare Disease Specialty Pharmacy, is the industry’s leading, independent national specialty pharmacy that is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PANTHERx’s mission is to transform lives by delivering medical breakthroughs, clinical excellence, and access solutions to patients afflicted with rare and devastating conditions. Every day, PANTHERx creates ways to Reinvent Specialty, Revolutionize Pharmacy, and Redefine Care®, by developing focused solutions, bold innovations, and novel clinical services associated with the life-transforming therapies that the company delivers.

PANTHERx is quadruple-accredited and was awarded as the 2018 Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP). Zitter Health Insights awarded PANTHERx the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Additionally, PANTHERx was ranked #49 in the 2018 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies in the nation, its third consecutive top 100 ranking, and a Best Place to Work in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine for 2018.