Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At the time, there was little medication available for the rare condition, so Rothblatt decided make a drug herself and formed United Therapeutics in 1996. When that company proved successful, both financially and scientifically, Rothblatt decided to take what she saw as the logical next step: manufacturing organs for transplantation.