Successful Alumnus Returns to Present at Hancock Symposium

Gregory Rockson has not been back on campus since he graduated in 2012, but he is returning to Westminster this fall to give a presentation at the Hancock Symposium on the innovative company he formed to cut costs and increase access to affordable medicines in his homeland of Africa. 

Rockson, the co-founder and CEO of mPharma, in Accra, Ghana, will discuss how “innovative thinking has led to massive changes in the global health space and what more can be done to increase access and affordability for patients” in an executive session of the Symposium at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12, in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. 

The continent of Africa suffers from the second-worst health worker shortage in the world and a lack of medical infrastructure and technology.  Through his venture-backed start-up company, Rockson has been able to partner with major pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurance companies, financial institutions, and governments to deliver medicine directly into the hands of the people in these underserved areas. 

Now, in its fourth year of operation, mPharma employs over 80 people in its operations in Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and has over 150 outlets treating more than 30,000 patients each month. 

Rockson says because they have taken over managing the pharmaceutical inventory, are able to accurately forecast the demand for prescription drugs, and have gained bargaining power with drug suppliers, mPharma has been able to lower patient costs by as much as 30% in some cases. 

“Coming back definitely makes me feel nostalgic about my experiences on campus,” Rockson said. “The biggest thing Westminster did for me was opening my eyes to the opportunities around me and connecting me to people like Dr. Carolyn Perry who believed in me and pushed me to be a better version of myself.”