Total scripts down again with money wasted on television spots. Week ending 8Feb2019 Re-fills plus new prescripts 562 TOTAL
Pushing from the consumer side is wise imho. I feel like most doctors will Rx if they are asked by the patient. Awareness from the consumer level is low. And, many institutions put large barriers in place for pharma reps. If the patient asks for it and about it, it at least stirs a conversation that probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Patients with diabetes don’t know about it, hence the consumer campaign. Sanofi launch was 2015. It was luke warm at best. 2nd launch was better but still a contract company in 2016. Since Mannkind has had its own sales force, the direction hasn’t been consistent. If they can get their crap together with consistency, they should gain traction. Look at Twitter. Patients are very passionate about how well it works. I’m still cheering for them.
MNKD is between the proverbial rock and a hard place with Afrezza. Most pharmas launch a product with lots of resources because after the time spent in development and clinical trials, the vast majority of drugs only have about five to seven years of patent exclusivity remaining. If Afrezza has not caught fire by now, throwing money at it just at the time the remaining patents expire is not a great idea. Either the drug never takes off, in which case the money spent on promotion is wasted, or the drug becomes a big seller with absolutely no barriers to a generic imitator coming in and taking a chunk of the market and negatively impacting prices. Sometimes it is best to quit hitting your head against a brick wall and focus on other opportunities.
