Stuart A. Tross, a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with two decades of experience, has been hired by MannKind Corp. as chief people officer.

Tross will report to MannKind CEO Matthew Pfeffer.

In previous positions, Tross rose to senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Amgen, where he worked for 10 years. Before that, he worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb for eight years, rising to vice president and global head of human resources for its Mead Johnson Co. subsidiary.

Pfeffer lauded Tross's addition MannKind.

“The addition of his wide-ranging experience will be transformational at MannKind,” Pfeffer said. “Stuart’s experience will not only facilitate a quick and efficient expansion of our Afrezza launch capability, but he will be instrumental in building an organization to accommodate other strategic initiatives, such as product development and global expansion.”

Based in Valencia, California, MannKind manufactures Afrezza, an inhalable form of insulin for diabetics, with other medicines in development.