Investing in MannKind because of Afrezza?

It's odd that you're disappointed in doctors for having a difference of opinion from you. After all, you're one patient and you only have your own experience to judge. Doctors see thousands of patients - wouldn't their opinion of inhaled insulin be much more valid than your own?

The issue here is that "we're not shots" isn't an effective campaign and there is no clinical need for Afrezza on the market - the short-acting insulin space is a very satisfied market. You act as if an injection with a 32G needle is a burden to a patient. It simply isn't for most, which is why Afrezza hasn't taken off. Even with better managed care coverage, there is no need for this product.

 

If most people followed your type of thinking and attitude, we would still be in the dark ages. Fortunately, people eventually brace progress.

 

^embrace

 

No. What's odd is that my doctor didn't even know Afrezza exists until I asked him about it. He then commented on Pfizer's completely inferior product that has nothing to do with Afrezza.

Afrezza is a big step forward, whether you and my uninformed doctor think so or not.

Giving myself thousands of shots…..or not giving myself thousands of shots? Wow. Tough decision.

 

Afrezza has been slow to be adopted but that seems to be changing from what I read. Personally I have no experience with it yet however the people in favor of it, people who use it claim it is making their A1c control much easier once they get used to it. It does seem to be a breakthrough and I hope it works on other medicines beside insulin. Many exciting medicines in our time like never before.

 

lol this is some archaic thinking! a number of seld-administered shots is a "satisfied" market? No, I think they are simply used to the only thing that is available that keeps the worst of the disease at bay. Given the choice between a pocket sized device that delivered the same insulin via your mouth or a bunch of shots, who wouldn't choose the device over shots? An ill-informed person, that's who. I'm heavily invested in Mannkind not because I think it will make me a bunch of money, but because it's a huge leap forward in treating a disease that afflicts a large portion of the population. Half of Americans are either pre-diabetic or diabetic.

 

OK. Sure. Then where are the sales? Doctors and patients have "the choice between a pocket sized device that delivered the same insulin via your mouth or a bunch of shots", and they keep choosing the shots. You might love the technology, but this market simply hasn't embraced it at all. You can pound your fists on the table and scream from the mountaintop about how people would prefer to use this device over insulin pens & vials, but it's just not playing out that way. If you think the lack of performance of this product is because no one has heard of it, you're seriously kidding yourself. Virtually every physician I've spoken to in the last 3 months has heard of Afrezza, but they simply have no interest in using it. Sorry.

 

lol it's been what, months that it's been available? there's been virtually no marketing of the product to physicians on the whole. And what, have you spoken to thousands of physicians in the last 3 months? It's ludicrous to think a product that is heads and shoulders above regular insulin is lost because it hasn't been "embraced" in a few months time.

 

It is true that many drugs increase in sales throughout their lifetime. Lipitor, for example, reached its peak sales of $1 billion/month right before it went off patent, but it also showed consistent improvement since launch.

On the other hand, Afrezza has shown nearly zero traction with Nrx flat and Trx almost flat for the last three months. Blame it on unfavorable formulary tiers, inadequate marketing, or whatever else you want to complain about, but at the end of the day the company is not covering its minimal operating costs and there is no realistic scenario where they will begin to do so before they run out of money. The day of reckoning is near.

 

Ok. Sure. Look at every other successful diabetes launch in the last 20 years - Afrezza looks worse than all of them. It's not even close. And, if you claim lack of marketing or selling to physicians, what is it exactly that Sanofi has been doing since launch? Regardless, I don't need to see thousands of physicians - I can see hundreds and draw the same conclusion, as I'm pretty sure you're not doing a Regional launch of Afrezza, right? Why would my area be any different from others in terms of physician awareness?

Just call it what it is - a massive failure. You're trying to force a product on the market that apparently no physicians want. Your feelings and gut can tell you all you want; I'm just looking at the numbers.

 

This launch failure is entirely the result of insurance. The insurers aren't willing to pony up the cash and the patients have become beholden to the insurers.

Say what you will, but Afrezza is without question a better mousetrap. It's the best damn mousetrap ever, actually.

 

Buddy, you need to let it go. It's great that you are so enthusiastic about it, but the issue isn't because 'the insurers aren't willing to pony up the cash'. It's the best damn mousetrap ever?? I think there are a few hundred thousand physicians that think differently. Just because your invested in it, you can't will the products success! Chalk it up as a lose and walk away.

 

Insurance only determines who pays for the medicine; physicians can write scripts for any FDA approved drug whether the carrier likes it or not. Certainly there are some unfortunate patients who cannot afford prescriptions unless it is covered, but what about the rest? If Afrezza was so great, the patients would be clamoring for their physicians to write self-pay prescriptions.

While any launch goes better when a drug is on Tier 2, attributing failure to reimbursement means that no novel drug will ever launch successfully and we should all invest in generics.

 

Novo is selling Saxenda at $1000 a month with no insurance coverage to speak of. They are generating prescription volume that Afrezza could only dream of - add in that the prescription obesity market is about 1/50 the size of the short-acting insulin market.

Quit blaming insurance. This is a product that no one wants. It's a lack of DEMAND, not a lack of insurance.

 

shorts are obviously taking advantage of all social media.

 

Is it safe to say "I told you so" yet? This drug is something the market simply doesn't want, regardless of who might sell it. Today's announcement that Mannkind and Sanofi were dissolving the agreement on Afrezza promotion is the last nail in the coffin. No one will pick this drug up. It's officially dead....just like I told you so. Man, it feels good to be right!!

 

Stock price below $1 per share. Mannkind is done. Thanks Affezza!

 

The stock is at 53 cents. How did that $5.00 purchase work out.