MannKind Announces Appointment of Michael Castagna as Chief Commercial Officer

VALENCIA, Calif., March 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) (TASE: MNKD) today announced that Michael E. Castagna, Pharm.D., has joined the company as its Chief Commercial Officer, effective immediately.  Dr. Castagna will lead commercialization efforts for Afrezza®, reporting to Matthew Pfeffer, Chief Executive Officer, and will serve on MannKind’s executive leadership team.

Dr. Castagna has over 20 years of experience in healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotech and specialty pharmacy industries.  He joins MannKind from Amgen, Inc., where he spent over three years as Vice President, Global Commercial Lead for a portfolio of nine biosimilar drugs, and Vice President, Global Lifecycle Management.  Prior to Amgen, Dr. Castagna, was Executive Director of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Immunology franchise, where he served as co-lead to relaunch Orencia IV and launch Orencia SC, both rheumatoid arthritis drugs.  Before BMS, Dr. Castagna was with Sandoz (Novartis) as Vice President and Division Head for Biopharmaceuticals, North America, where he established the US Biologics Business Unit and relaunched its lead product, Omnitrope, a human growth hormone.  Prior to Sandoz, Dr. Castagna held a variety of positions with EMD (Merck), Serono, Pharmasset and DuPont Pharmaceuticals.  Dr. Castagna received his Bachelors of Science - Pharmacy degree from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, his Doctor of Pharmacy from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I’m very pleased to welcome Michael to the MannKind team in this important new role,” said Matthew Pfeffer, Chief Executive Officer of MannKind Corporation.  “His extensive pharma background, including driving sales and marketing for so many new and relaunched products, will be invaluable as we prepare to reintroduce Afrezza to the market in the coming months.”     

Dr. Castagna said, “I am excited to be joining MannKind at this critical intersection as we transform our future.  I am enthusiastic about the commercial opportunity for Afrezza and the potential it has to help adults with diabetes manage this difficult disease.”

MannKind also announced today that Juergen A. Martens has resigned as its Chief Operating Officer, effective March 18, 2016. 

Mr. Pfeffer added, “Juergen was instrumental in building the commercial manufacturing infrastructure that we have today in Danbury.  We thank Juergen for his many contributions to the company, and we wish him the very best.  Operationally, MannKind’s Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President for Technical Operations, Joseph Kocinsky, will continue his existing responsibilities for the manufacture of Afrezza.”

About MannKind CorporationMannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) (TASE: MNKD) focuses on the discovery and development of therapeutic products for patients with diseases such as diabetes.  MannKind maintains a website at http://www.mannkindcorp.com to which MannKind regularly posts copies of its press releases as well as additional information about MannKind. Interested persons can subscribe on the MannKind website to e-mail alerts that are sent automatically when MannKind issues press releases, files its reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission or posts certain other information to the website.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding MannKind’s ability to directly commercialize Afrezza and the commercial potential of Afrezza.  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 MannKind’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, the successful transition with Sanofi for the return of Afrezza, the ability to generate significant product sales for MannKind, difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory feedback or completing and analyzing the results of clinical studies, MannKind’s ability to manage its existing cash resources or raise additional cash resources, stock price volatility and other risks detailed in MannKind’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and subsequent periodic reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on 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 press release.

Company Contact:
Matthew Pfeffer
Chief Executive Officer
661-775-5300
[email protected]

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