VALENCIA, Calif., May 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq:MNKD) today announced that James S. Shannon, MD, MRCP (UK) has been elected to the company's Board of Directors after previously serving as a director from February 2010 until April 2012. The addition of Dr. Shannon brings the total number of MannKind Board members to eight.
From May 2012 until his retirement in April 2015, Dr. Shannon was the Chief Medical Officer of GlaxoSmithKline. He formerly held the position of Global Head of Pharma Development at Novartis AG, based in Basel, Switzerland from 2005 until 2008. After joining Sandoz in 1994 as Head of Drug Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Shannon led of the Integration Office for R&D overseeing the creation of the Novartis R&D groups from those of Ciba-Geigy Ltd and Sandoz. Following the merger he was appointed Head of the Cardiovascular Strategic Team and subsequently became Global Head of Project Management before being appointed Global Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs in 1999, a position that he held until 2005 when he was appointed to Head Pharma Development. Between 2008 and joining GSK, Dr. Shannon served on the boards of a number of companies, including Biotie, Circassia, Crucell, Endocyte and MannKind. He also sat on the board of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals where he held the position of interim Chief Executive Officer and President from January 2009 until April 2010. He first entered the pharmaceutical industry in 1987 joining Sterling Winthrop Inc., working initially in Europe and subsequently in the USA, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in the management of research and development ultimately serving as Senior Vice-President, Clinical Development. Dr. Shannon is trained in Medicine and Cardiology. He received his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Queen's University of Belfast and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK).
"We are very pleased to welcome James back to the board of directors," stated Alfred Mann, Executive Chairman of MannKind Corporation. "His experience as a recognized pharmaceutical industry leader is invaluable to us as we accelerate the commercialization of Afrezza® and build a pipeline of additional product opportunities that utilize our proprietary technologies."
About MannKind Corporation
MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: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.