The struggling MannKind Corp. on Tuesday said it has named Michael Castagna as its chief executive, replacing Matthew Pfeffer. The company’s stock went up nearly 10 percent. Castagna previously served as chief commercial officer at the Valencia biotechnology company, which manufactures inhalable insulin, Afrezza. Pfeffer served as CEO since early last year and chief financial officer since 2008. Pfeffer will remain with the company in an advisory role through July to oversee the transition. Rose Alinaya has been named as an acting CFO. She will assume the role until a permanent CFO is named. Alinaya is currently the principal accounting officer. “I’m honored to lead MannKind into its next phase of growth,” said Castagna in a statement. “I am happy to have Rose in this (CFO) position as I will benefit greatly from her 14 years of experience with MannKind.” MannKind has been selling Afrezza itself for about 11 months after a bigger pharmaceutical firm, Sanofi, dropped the product early last year amid disappointing results. But MannKind hasn’t fared much better, with sales failing to take off the way investors had hoped. Shares of MannKind (MNKD) on Tuesday closed up 13 cents, or 9 percent, to $1.65 on the Nasdaq.
