Inhaled drug developer MannKind Corporation has announced the appointment of former Acorda Therapeutics Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer Burkhard Blank as MannKind’s new Executive VP, Research & Development, and Chief Medical Officer. At Acorda, he was responsible for Phase 3 development of Inbrija levodopa inhalation powder. Blank was most recently Head of R&D / CMO at Pharnext, and he has also previously served as CMO at Herantis, Mersana, Qwell, Altus, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Blank said, “I’m excited by MannKind’s burgeoning pipeline with the potential to address serious unmet needs for those living with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease (NTM), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and diabetes. The talented team at MannKind has already made impressive progress advancing the pipeline and I am looking forward to building on that momentum with them.”
MannKind CEO Michael Castagna commented, “Burkhard is an accomplished R&D leader and CMO whose experience will be beneficial as we continue to drive our pipeline and future growth. Burkhard will assume consolidated responsibility for our R&D, regulatory and medical groups, as we pursue our goal of one new indication or product launch per year between 2025-2030.”
Read the MannKind Corporation press release.
