Rak,

I think your post was excellent, and well articulates the issues with the management group. Al Mann was the primary reason that I became interested in this company; further DD had me absolutely fall in love with the science.

From a stockholder perspective in trying to read the tea leaves, I have a couple of fundamental concerns. As much as I admire and respect Al Mann, I can't help but believe that Al, coming from the greatest generation of Americans (and being in the cream of that crop), is a bit at a loss in how to handle the FDA of now versus the FDA of the 1960's and 1970's. His gravitas and his huge capital stake, coupled with his past success and the fact that for all practical purposes this is his company, both in namesake and significant ownership has its advantages but also can present issues in bringing in the best management talent; kind of like Jerry Jones of the Cowboys - he really wants to be owner and Coach and any big name Coach worth his salt would have difficulty being under his thumb. I am underwhelmed by Hakan and Matt, and am concerned that Al is too concerned with driving a hard bargain with his company in its negotiations with BP, and is not looking at the larger macro-political picture that an alliance with BP would present in our drive to the finish line with the FDA. I personally think that the FDA would be a little more intimidated with a Sanofi or J & J alliance (just throwing names out) with Mannkind than just Mannkind. We also have succession issues that would be present should the 85 year old patriarch pass on or otherwise not be able to continue.

The entire scope and history of this company would present a compelling case study for future graduate students, with my obvious hope that the ending to the story/study being one of the greatest success stories in modern biotech history. Definitely gonna be a nail biter!!!