Investing in MannKind because of Afrezza?

Despite a recent survey that showed most doctors didn't know about Afrezza, Jefferies is still bullish on the stock as of a recent rating. However, the top ranked analysts are saying Hold or Sell: https://www.tipranks.com/stocks/mnkd I guess it depends how much you're willing to bet on a drug.

 

The drug is a winner. Novel and better than anything in the history of insulin---no question about it. The question is whether or not it will sell.

I'm betting the long-term sales of Afrezza are outstanding. What I'm not sure of is whether or not those sales will climb fast enough to beat the buzzer as the patent clock ticks away.

I bought 1000 shares at about $5 per share. That's all I'm willing to risk of Sanofi's second-rate promotional effort.

 

Ha, ha, ,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Same group couldn't do it for Exubera and they won't succeed with Afrezza. Same problems, but different names. Buy Fidelity Biotech if you want to make money.

 

Barring the fact that both devices were inhaled, nothing about the two is the same. Afrezza is a genuine breakthrough. Exubera was a clumsy first attempt at delivering a substandard insulin.

 

Afrezza is human insulin - all that's different is the delivery device. It's certainly better than what Exubera had, but don't pretend you have anything novel on your hands here. Same insulin that no one wants to use anymore, just repackaged.

 

Less than 300 Rx again this week...

Where is this breakthrough that people can't wait to get their hands on?

 

It's a work in progress, but I believe this will grow into a huge seller.

 

Good for you. Your belief doesn't generate physician demand for this product. You can believe all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that sales are dismal.

 

They said the same thing for Pfizer's Zithromax, which had a dismal first year. Then it took off and achieved blockbuster status.

 

Enough said:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/13203821/1/mannkinds-afrezza-lags-behind-biggest-failure-in-inhaled-insulin.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

 

"The Street"? Are you kidding me?

You just disclosed how little you know about the bioscience market.

 

....or you could look at the 100s of drugs that performed poorly their first year and never took off. Whichever lens you prefer.

 

Ok. How about this

http://www.fiercepharmamarketing.com/story/goldman-cuts-afrezza-sales-forecast-half-slow-uptake-pricing-pressure/2015-03-04

http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/analysts-skeptical-sanofi-can-turn-around-afrezza-launch-dtc-ads-are-coming/2015-05-12

http://www.smarteranalyst.com/2015/05/11/mannkind-corporation-disappoints-with-afrezza-sales-analysts-lower-expectations/

http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/technicals/15/04/5463345/mannkind-disappoints-again-with-afrezza-sales

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mannkind-drug-20150603-story.html#page=1

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-early-sales-of-inhaled-insulin-disappoint-20150430-story.html

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Diabetes/51332

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mannkind-disappoints-again-afrezza-sales-174038922.html

http://www.firstwordpharma.com/footer/benefits?tsid=17#axzz3ey2QZRTn

 

I'm long on Mannkind, and if you're looking at these stories as proof of Mannkind's demise without considering the potential of Mannkind overall (not just insulin, which I think will soon be a paradigm shift for diabetics using needles) with their pipeline and long-term potential with their technology in other areas, you're losing. These lows are simply huge buy opportunities for those able to think forward, not just blindly accept parroted stories.

 

Not talking about the demise of MannKind. Just talking about a slow product uptake. That's all.

 

I don't think anyone is talking about the demise of Mannkind here. But, regardless of how novel the technology may be and the PROMISE it may offer, the products simply have to deliver. So far, Afrezza performance has been awful. If no one uses these products, then it doesn't matter how good they are.

 

For a company with one approved product, those are pretty much the same thing.

 

Insulin in any form, properly given, works like a charm. The major problem with huffing a drug is the technique has to be perfect every time and the lungs are notoriously difficult to work this to good effect. I worked in an area where these types of devices were used on test subjects and the acceptance rate was low for the majority of subjects. Keep in mind that they had been selected as best candidates for inhaled agents, yet, the clinical results were short of fantastic.

 

I thought the clinical results WERE fantastic. Same glucose control, no needles. Who wouldn't consider that to be fantastic? Any one of us injecting ourselves four times a day sure would see the fantastic part of that story. I'm disappointed in the doctors that don't acknowledge how bad a lifetime of injections can be.