MANNKIND CORPORATION - Key Persons
Alfred E. Mann was a visionary in aerospace, medical technology, and biopharmaceuticals. But his true passion was helping people. During his career, he founded 17 companies and developed breakthrough medical devices, including cardiac pacemakers, insulin pumps, cochlear implants, retinal prostheses, and other technologies that have enabled people to live fuller, healthier lives.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Corporate Quality
Arpan Patel leads MannKind's corporate quality function including quality assurance, quality control and analytical technology. He joined MannKind in 2022 bringing more than two-and-a-half decades of quality management experience to MannKind. Having worked in three different countries - USA, Canada and India, Arpan brings a global perspective to his role.
Prior to joining MannKind he served as Vice President of Quality Assurance/Quality Control for Amneal Pharmaceuticals providing strategic leadership to more than 200+ quality professionals across the New York region. Arpan has held senior level positions at Apotex Inc, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance), Unimark Remedies Ltd and Lupin Agrochemicals.
Growing up in India he cultivated a love of cricket as well as enjoys badminton, tennis and volleyball. He and his family spend their free time traveling around the world and enjoying a host of sightseeing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Director
- Interim Chief Executive Officer
Education
Queen's University of Belfast: undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in medicine and cardiology
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
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- Associate Director, Stanford Diabetes Research Center
Associate Director, Stanford Diabetes Research Center The Kirkwood Distinguished Packard Fellow Professor of Pediatrics and, by courtesy, of Health Research and Policy (Epidemiology) Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford University, School of Medicine
David Thomson - Chief Legal Officer, Secretary
Job Titles:
- Corporate Secretary
- General Counsel
David Thomson started in 2000 before the three-way merger that created MannKind Corporation from CTL ImmunoTherapies Corp., AlleCure Corp. and Pharmaceutical Development Corporation, all of which were majority-owned by Alfred Mann. Since then, he has been responsible for the company's legal affairs, compliance matters, patents, and global business development activities as a member of the executive leadership team.
David, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and is the longest-serving MannKind employee, understands the importance of building upon Al's legacy of helping people live fuller lives without limit. Prior to MannKind, David was an associate at Toronto-based Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toronto.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Burkhard Blank joined MannKind in 2023, bringing more than 25 years of broad managerial experience and global drug development across all clinical, medical, and regulatory disciplines in multiple disease areas. He has consolidated responsibility for MannKind's research & development, regulatory, and medical groups.
Prior to MannKind, Dr. Blank served as CMO/Head of R&D for Pharnext SA after serving seven years in the same position at Acorda Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, Dr. Blank spent 20 years between Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in CT and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH in Germany. He has deep knowledge in the inhaled therapeutics space and was instrumental in eight NDA and MAA submissions for small molecules, biologics, and drug-device combinations.
An avid music fan, Burkhard enjoys spending time with his family, fishing and sailing
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Medical Affairs & Safety, Endocrine Business Unit
A leading board-certified pediatric endocrinologist, Dr. Kevin Kaiserman has dedicated his more than 25-year career to improving the lives of children and young adults living with diabetes - whether it be in practice, volunteering, teaching, and currently as MannKind's Vice President of Medical Affairs and Safety for the Endocrine Business Unit.
Kevin was in private practice in Southern California prior to joining MannKind in 2020, and continues to see patients at his clinic, SoCal Diabetes. Prior to entering private practice, Kevin was a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the Clinical Diabetes Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
A renowned speaker and thought leader in the field of diabetes, Kevin has participated in numerous publications and research studies. He has also served on multiple boards, including the Los Angeles chapters of the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. A passion project outside of work for Kevin is serving as medical director for Camp Conrad-Chinnock, which provides camping programs for youth and families with type 1 diabetes in the San Bernardino Mountains of California.
Job Titles:
- Chief Scientific Officer
- Senior Vice President
Dr. Thomas Hofmann joined MannKind as Chief Scientific Officer in December 2020 when MannKind acquired Qrumpharma - a pharmaceutical company with focus on mycobacterial pulmonary disease that Thomas founded. He has spent more than 25 years as a clinical developer of inhaled therapies for lung diseases and is an international leader in the study and treatment of pulmonary diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma and COPD. At MannKind, Thomas is focused on leveraging its cutting-edge technology to bring new therapies to patients with orphan lung diseases.
Thomas was also the founder and CEO of Aumapharma Inc., a pharmaceutical consulting company focused on pulmonary diseases. He was previously the Chief Medical Officer at German-based Activaero, where he led research and development of therapies for lung diseases.
A holder of numerous patents related to pulmonary diseases therapy, Thomas is a recipient of the Milton Graub Clinical Achievement Award from the U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He serves on a COVID-19 Advisory Council advising German representative on pandemic response in his native Germany and has been widely published in medical journals on the subject of treatment of lung diseases. In his spare time, he enjoys biking and reading, as well as spending time with his children as they participate in school and sports.
Karen Jaffe joined MannKind in 2020, bringing more than 25 years of technology project management and regulatory strategy experience to the company's innovative product and medical device development focus.
Karen's first introduction to MannKind and its innovative approach goes back 10 years when she served two years working in regulatory affairs at the Alfred Mann Institute. During her tenure at Al Mann Institute, she worked closely with Al's daughter to promote legislation for an additional regulatory pathway for conditional approval for drugs to treat for threatening diseases. She came to MannKind from Keystone Heart where she was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance and Clinical Affairs. She previously served as Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance for NuVasive Specialized Orthopedics and at Obalon Therapeutics as well as consulted for Edwards LifeSciences.
A holder of two U.S. patents in pharmacovigilance, she is a member of the Orange County Regulatory Association, the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society and the Drug Information Association. Karen, who was born in Canada but raised in Augusta, Ga., enjoys outdoor activities with her family and loves to ski, swim, spin, hike and kayak, the last activity often including her Goldendoodle.
Job Titles:
- AM Diabetes and Endocrinology Center, Bartlett, Tennessee
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Executive Vice President
Lauren Sabella joined as EVP, COO in 2023, bringing to her role a wealth of commercial, respiratory, and operational experience in the healthcare industry. She oversees MannKind's critical functions that operate in Danbury in both the endocrine and orphan lung areas of the business.
Lauren came to MannKind after 12 years at Acorda Therapeutics first as Chief Commercial Officer and finishing as COO. Lauren also spent 18 years at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals where she successfully launched two products that each surpassed $1 billion in sales.
Having lived in Connecticut for the last 30 years, Lauren is an avid participant with local charitable initiatives. She enjoys focusing on a healthy lifestyle with yoga, meditation and regular fitness such as kayaking along the Long Island Sound. Lauren also has a love for watching the NFL, travel, and social time with family and friends.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Endocrine Business Unit
With more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience across roles in Sales, Marketing, Health Economics, and Medical Affairs, Matthew Nguyen uniquely serves as Senior Vice President of MannKind's Endocrine Business Unit. In this role, he oversees the endocrine marketing and sales functions in the U.S., commercial strategy and operations, market access, trade, and hub services.
Prior to joining MannKind in May 2022, Matt was Vice President of Strategy & Operations at Zealand Pharmaceuticals. He previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at Valeritas, Inc., and earlier in his career was part of the launch team for Lantus and multiple diabetes and metabolism brands at Sanofi.
Matt enjoys snowboarding and golf in his downtime. He also loves traveling with his family - the Jersey shore being a favorite.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Leadership Team
Michael Castagna became CEO of MannKind Corporation and joined the company's board of directors in 2017, bringing more than 25 years' experience in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to the company's product and medical device development strategy. Under his guidance, MannKind is successfully establishing solid partnerships and growing its pipeline, capitalizing on Michael's extensive knowledge of the commercial pharmaceutical industry. Michael's deep understanding of the biopharmaceutical industry and dedication to helping people live their lives without limits is grounded by his extensive pharmacy background.
Previously, Michael served as a Vice President at Amgen, guiding both the Lifecycle Management and Global Commercial Biosimilar business areas of the company. Before Amgen, he spent a combined 10 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb, focusing on medical, marketing and sales from 1997 to 2005, returning to the company in 2010 to direct the Immunoscience division from 2010 to 2012. Other industry experience includes serving as a Vice President at Sandoz, as well as a Director at both Merck, Serono and Pharmasset.
When he's not focusing on company strategy and operations or how to make innovative new treatments available to people living with diabetes and orphan lung diseases, Michael spends time traveling with his family, scuba diving, and visiting car events.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
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- Clinical Asst Professor Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President of MannKind 's Technical Operations
- Executive Vice President, Technical Operations
Sanjay Singh is Executive Vice President of MannKind's Technical Operations, leading our Danbury facility including oversight of our commercial and contract manufacturing. With more than 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical technical operations, he has worked with multiple technologies, delivery systems, and therapeutic areas.
Prior to joining MannKind in 2022, Sanjay was Associate President of Operations for Aurobindo Pharma USA having moved stateside after serving as Senior VP of Operations for Aurobindo Pharma India. He also held positions of increasing responsibility at Cipla Ltd, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd, and Cadila Laboratories.
Sanjay grew up in Indore, India, and earned both is MPharm and MBA in country. He has managed technical projects in three countries - India, China, and the U.S. - and speaks two languages. Away from the office he enjoys time cooking for his family and friends, watching cricket, and reading technical journals to stay abreast of the latest industry developments.
Job Titles:
- Medical Director Diabetes Treatment Center Professor of Medicine, LLU School of Medicine
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- As Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Financial Officer, Steven Binder guides financial operations and strategy for MannKind. A leading global financial executive with broad international experience, Steven Binder joined the company in 2017, crafting a robust financial plan to steer MannKind's future growth, product development, and expansion of the Company's innovative technology.
Steven Binder's biomedical finance career includes Chief Financial Officer at Stryker International, a leader in medical technology development, where he transformed the company's international finance function. Prior to Stryker, he spent 21 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) as its Vice President of Finance providing financial and business leadership to teams worldwide while living in three countries outside the U.S. He began his career at Deloitte & Touche as a certified public accountant.
An avid sportsman, Steven Binder actively hikes, mountain bikes and plays golf. He was named "Public Company CFO of the Year 2020" by the Los Angeles Business Journal and "Large Public Company CFO of the Year" by San Fernando Valley Business Journal in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Chief
- Chief People and Workplace Officer
Stuart Tross serves as MannKind's Chief People and Workplace Officer, leading human resources activities and supporting the high-performing, inclusive culture that MannKind strives to foster. Stuart also leads information technology, corporate communications, and Westlake Village office facilities management for the company.
With extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience, Stuart joined MannKind after serving as Chief Human Resources Officer at Amgen. Prior to that, he was Global Head of Human Resources for Mead Johnson Nutrition, which was owned by Bristol Myers Squibb at that time. Earlier, he held several roles in varied areas of human resources for BMS after an early career management stint at Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson).
Outside of work, Stuart enjoys spending time with his family and friends watching and participating in various sports and physical activities. He proudly serves as an advisory board member for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- FACE, ECNU, FNLA