Martine Rothblatt

United Therapeutics Corp

Rothblatt isn’t a career pharma exec; she made a fortune with Sirius radio, moving into the drug business only after her daughter Jenesis was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension. At the time, the only treatment was an IV drug from GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK). United Therapeutics ($UTHR) launched Remodulin, another injectable remedy, in 2009, and after two rejections, finally won FDA approval for an oral version, Orenitram, at the end of 2013.