VALENCIA, Calif., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MannKind Corporation announced today the addition of several key executives to the MannKind management team.
Dr. Peter Richardson joins the Company as Corporate Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. In this position Dr. Richardson is assuming overall responsibility for the Company’s clinical, regulatory, research and development activities. For the past 14 years, Dr. Richardson was at Novartis, where he was most recently Senior Vice President and Global Head of Development Alliances. He also served as Senior Vice President and Head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals KK Japan and before that Vice President and Global Therapeutic Head for Clinical Development and Medical Affairs: Arthritis, Bone, and Women’s Health. In addition to his drug development experience, Dr. Richardson earlier practiced as an endocrinologist.
Juergen Martens Ph.D., joins the Company as Senior Vice President of Operations. Dr. Martens is responsible for our manufacturing activities, including the commercial build-out of the Technosphere Insulin manufacturing facilities. Dr. Martens joins MannKind after serving most recently as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Technology Development for Nektar Therapeutics. Prior to that position, he was Vice President of Drug Manufacturing Operations for Nektar. Dr. Martens has more than eighteen years of experience in technology and operations management.
Other recent appointments include John Bedard, who has assumed the responsibilities of Senior Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs. Bedard was formerly Vice President, FDA Liaison & Global Strategy for Bristol- Myers Squibb (BMS) for over ten years. During that time, he directed the regulatory activities for a number of medically important programs, including Pravachol, Monopril, Avapro, Glucovance, and Glucophage XR. Prior to joining BMS, Bedard was Group Director of Regulatory Affairs for Smith Kline & French Laboratories. Bedard has extensive experience working with the FDA, including ten FDA Advisory Panels for significant pharmaceutical product approvals.
In addition, Todd Easley has joined the Company as Senior Director, Marketing. Easley was previously Senior Director, Global Marketing at sanofi-aventis, where his recent responsibilities included global marketing for Exubera(R). Prior to that, Easley was with Eli Lilly and Company, where he led sales, marketing and new product planning efforts for a number of endocrinology compounds, including diabetes products.
“We are excited by the caliber of talent and industry experience we have added to our operating team. This further builds upon our infrastructure to ensure continued progress through commercialization of Technosphere(R) Insulin,” stated Alfred Mann, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MannKind Corporation.
About MannKind Corporation
MannKind Corporation focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic products for diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Its lead product, the Technosphere(R) Insulin System, is currently in phase 3 clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe to study its safety and efficacy in the treatment of diabetes. For more information on MannKind Corporation and its technology, visit www.mannkindcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to MannKind’s clinical trials and product candidates that involve risks and uncertainties. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intend,” “will,” “goal,” “potential” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company’s current expectations. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the progress, timing and results of clinical trials, the risk that future safety and efficacy studies may not confirm our past clinical results, risks related to intellectual property matters, difficulties or delays in seeking or obtaining regulatory approval, risks related to manufacturing the Company’s lead product candidate, risks related to competition from other pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies, risks related to the Company’s ability to enter into any collaborations or strategic partnerships or obtain additional financing to support the Company’s operations, risks related to the Company’s ability to meet milestones and other risks detailed in MannKind’s filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and MannKind undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.
MannKind Corporation
CONTACT: Anderson, Chief Financial Officer of MannKind Corporation,+1-661-775-5302, danderson@mannkindcorp.com; or Investors, Julie Huang ofFinancial Dynamics, +1-212-850-5628, Julie.Huang@fd.com, for MannKindCorporation
Web site: http://www.mannkindcorp.com/
