VALENCIA, Calif., April 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD ) (TASE: MNKD ) today announced two senior appointments to its commercial organization. Joining the Company are Joseph Saldanha as Vice President of Marketing and Agustin (Tino) Quintero as Vice President of Market Value, Access and Trade. Both will report to Michael Castagna, MannKind’s Chief Commercial Officer.
“I am excited to have Joe and Tino join my team to help us transition into a commercial organization with dedicated capabilities,” said Michael Castagna. “Each brings a wealth of experience in commercialization, diabetes and pharmaceutical product launches, and their skills will be critical as MannKind moves forward with our commercial plans.”
Matthew Pfeffer, Chief Executive Officer of MannKind added, “The expansion of Mike’s organization with these two key roles supports MannKind’s business objectives for 2016 and beyond. Under Joe and Tino’s leadership, MannKind can develop strong relationships with payors that benefit patients, and produce innovative and focused marketing and sales programs that establish MannKind’s market presence with Technosphere®-based products.”
Mr. Saldanha has worked in the diabetes space for over 13 years, in both U.S. and global roles. He has experience marketing oral anti-diabetic medications, insulins (both injectable and inhaled), and medical devices. Mr. Saldanha commercialized Sanofi’s Lantus ® in the Intercontinental Region. After returning to the U.S., he was part of the team that commercialized the Lantus SoloSTAR ® pen. In addition to heading up Sanofi’s strategy and medical education teams, he was responsible for all hospital business. Mr. Saldanha launched an initiative with Certified Diabetes Educators ® to train patients in diabetes and the appropriate use of insulin. Prior to that, Mr. Saldanha served as Director of Business Development for the insulin delivery device business at Johnson and Johnson Diabetes (LifeScan ® /Animas ® ). More recently, he worked in the biosimilars business with Pfizer in New York. Mr. Saldanha holds a Bachelor of Science from Drexel University and a Master of Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Quintero has 18 years of experience in bio-pharmaceutical market access as well as a proven record of achieving commercial excellence. He joins MannKind from AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, where he served as National Managed Care Executive. In this role, Mr. Quintero was responsible for negotiating AbbVie’s portfolio of products (including Humira ® ) while developing contracting and pricing strategies for hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and oncology product launches. Prior to that, he held integral leadership roles in sales and account management at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, including oversight of the commercial launch of Incivek ® , their first commercial product. Earlier, he was part of Gilead Sciences and Sandoz's leadership teams, responsible for sales, product launches and market access for both commercial and government payers. Mr. Quintero holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from Florida International University.
Members of the investment community are reminded of the upcoming conference call to discuss the company's general commercialization strategy in the US, being held later today (April 19, 2016) at 5:00 pm (Eastern Time).
To participate in the live call by telephone, please dial (888) 224-7957 or (303) 223-4394 and use the participant passcode: 21809665. Those interested in listening to the conference call live via the Internet may do so by visiting the Company's website at http://www.mannkindcorp.com .
A telephone replay of the call will be accessible for approximately 14 days following completion of the call by dialing (800) 633-8284 or (402) 977-9140 and use the participant passcode: 21809665. A replay will also be available on MannKind's website for 14 days.
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About MannKind Corporation
MannKind 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 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 pharmaceutical products. 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 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, 2015 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: Rose Alinaya SVP, Finance 661-775-5300 ralinaya@mannkindcorp.com
