MannKind Corporation Response to Recent Mar...( VALENCIA Calif. March 10 /- MannK...)

VALENCIA, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) today issued the following statement in response to recent market events:

MannKind is absolutely committed to the continued development of its lead development product, Technosphere(R) Insulin. We use our small, patient-friendly Medtone(R) inhaler to deliver Technosphere(R) Insulin to patients with diabetes in a way that much more closely matches the pattern of insulin secretion seen in people without disease. MannKind believes that the resulting efficacy and safety profile is unique and clearly differentiated from all existing diabetes treatments. To achieve normal glucose control, it is necessary to independently address both mealtime and fasting glucose. We believe Technosphere(R) Insulin is the only therapy that separately and independently lowers prandial glucose excursions, and that it will thus offer an important benefit to many patients with this devastating disease.

MannKind recognizes that in order to be successful in today's health care market a product must offer improved efficacy and safety, not just improved convenience. The decisions of Eli Lilly and Company as well as Pfizer and Novo Nordisk to discontinue the development of their inhaled insulin products reinforce this view. None of those products offer any advantages over injectable rapid acting insulin analogs.

By contrast, in clinical trials to date, Technosphere(R) Insulin has shown important advantages over the treatment that is presently considered to be the most effective meal-time therapy for patients -- rapid-acting insulin analogs. Specifically, Technosphere(R) Insulin has demonstrated:

-- A significant reduction in post-prandial glucose ex
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