This year, the hig
hly respected Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy (JMCP) celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark this milestone, they are publishing a series of landmark articles documenting the changes to the specialty pharmacy industry since the journal began publishing in 1995. This month the featured pairing highlights the state, growth, and challenges of the specialty pharmacy industry through the eyes of a father and son team.
Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy, Chairman & CEO of PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, as well RareMed Solutions, contributed the first peer-reviewed article some twenty years ago, describing the emergence, challenges, and forecasted the potential of a new area specialty pharmacy, which was in its infancy. Since that publication in 2000, Dr. Vanscoy contributed to the realization of his predictions and has aided in reinventing specialty, revolutionizing pharmacy, and redefining care with a portfolio of successful biotech/healthcare companies, numerous publications, and significant industry influence. This past year Dr. Vanscoy led PANTHERx Rare into a new realm of specialty pharmacy; rare pharmacy, a step for the industry that was unimagined 20 years ago.
The pharmacy industry has undoubtedly felt the influence of Dr. Vanscoy and PANTHERx Rare as he and the company have raised the bar for quality patient care and advocated for educating the next generation of pharmacy leaders, among them Dr. Vanscoy’s son Gannon, RareMed Solution’s Director of Specialty Markets and a 2019 Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30 Honoree.
In his accompanying article for JMCP, Gannon Vanscoy nods to the title of his father’s publication titling his The Reemergence of Specialty Pharmacy. His case for reemergence is centered around the growth and maturation of the specialty pharmacy industry as well as legislative changes, medical advancements, and a progressive approach by the FDA that has led to the increase in the number of specialty and orphan drugs available for people who have been suffering from unique diseases and desperate for answers and treatment options.
The perspectives of father and son are important as we measure our progress as an industry over the last 20 years while rearticulating our commitment to progress in faster strides than previously imagined. Everyday there are more targeted drugs to approve, more diseases to genetically research, and most importantly more people and more families to care for with highly advanced medicines and coordinated services.
For the Vanscoys’ the specialty pharmacy industry and the rare pharmacy subspecialty have always been uniquely challenging and a profoundly rewarding, but now as a “family business” it has taken on even greater personal significance. “In my life my family, followed by my career, have always held top ranks. To share passions with your children is gratifying, but when those collective passions help other families the feeling is extraordinary. I am proud of the advancements that specialty pharmacy has seen since the JMCP publication 20 years ago and I am energized for the impact that my family (both sons and daughter-in-law) and our companies will continue to have on this health industry in the years and decades to come.”
Read Dr. Gordon Vanscoy’s and Gannon Vanscoy’s publications in Volume 26, Issue 3 of The Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy.
Read more about Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy.
Read more about Gannon Vanscoy.