Dive Brief:
- The struggling Mannkind was forced to withdraw their offer to appoint Duane Desisto as CEO, after his previous employer, Insulet Corporation, raised objections. Insulet claimed Desisto's appointment as Mannkind CEO violated the still active non-competition agreement signed by Desisto.
- In his place, Mannkind appointed the current CFO Matthew Pfeffer as CEO, effective January 10th, in addition to placing Pfeffer on the board of directors.
- Last week, Sanofi announced the termination of its licensing agreement with Mannkind for the insulin med Afrezza. Mannkind shares fell sharply on the news.
Dive Insight:
Already under strain from the termination of its partnership with Sanofi, Mannkind faces further challenges as its leadership took another hit on Monday. Founder Alfred Mann had been running the company on an interim basis after Hakan Edstrom resigned as CEO in November 2015. Desisto's appointment as CEO was supposed to take effect on January 5th.
However, the CEO did not take part in an investor call on the 6th after Sanofi announced it had pulled out of the Afrezza partnership.
Insulet Corp's objections to Desisto's appointment pushed Mannkind to rescind their original offer. Desisto's non-competition agreement with Insulet runs through September 17, 2016.
Mannkind appointed the current CFO, Matthew Pfeffer, to take Desisto's place, effective Sunday.
"[Pfeffer] understands the strategic and financial challenges that we face at this very important time for our company and has already begun to pursue a number of solutions," said Mannkind Lead Director Kent Kresa.