Inhaled Insulin: One Giant Leap for MannKind

Billionaire Alfred Mann must not have liked watching stock in the company bearing his name fall to another new low Monday in the wake of Eli Lilly giving up on inhaled insulin.

Although Alkermes could presumably find another corporate partner to try to rescue its "AIR Insulin" product, MannKind (MNKD) is the only company left still actively developing an inhalable form of diabetic insulin. And so Monday afternoon, MannKind put out a press release with the header, "MannKind Corporation Response to Recent Market Events", reaffirming its commitment to the device. "MannKind is absolutely commited to the continued development of its lead development product, Technosphere Insulin," the statement says.

The release goes on in detail about the product's safety and efficacy. The company is testing Technosphere on more than 5,000 people and more than 2,000 of them are in a two-year study to specifically measure the impact, if any, on lung function.

Mr. Mann is putting his money where his mouth is and has reportedly invested about a billion dollars from his own bank account in the device. And the company says it has the wherewithal to see it through.

"Currently, MannKind has sufficient financial resources to fund these programs and others (Technosphere and other development pipeline products) through the end of 2009."

And despite the fact that drug giants Lilly (LLY), Pfizer (PFE)and NovoNordisk (NVO) have all recently gotten out of the inhalable insulin business the release says: "It is MannKind's intention to bring these treatments to patients in collaboration with a leading pharmaceutical partner who shares a commitment to improving the lives of people with diabetes and who understands the difference between MannKind's products and other diabetes therapies on the market today."

MannKind still closed at a new low of $4.99, but well above its intra-day low of $4.25.

Comments

[hpski:]

What does your research tell you about the road blocks/speed bumps for inhaled insulin? What do the endos, pulmonologists, etc. think?

Thanks in advance

2008 Mar 11 01:10 PM

[LJ:]

First of all, inhalable insulin has already been made available to the market by netar. What mannkind is working on is no more than a repetition confusing the investing public. Second, this company has no revenue for many years, and it is no more than a research team surviving on stock sales.

$4.99 is too expensive. In fairness, this stock shouldn't be listed in any proper stock exchange. Instead, it should be listed in pinksheet or OTC.

2008 Mar 11 02:45 PM

[Vyceroy:]

I am on my last packet of Exubera and i am so happy to see someone else is developing this medicine .. Inhalable Insulin has helped me to gain control of my diabetes and it scares the hell out of me to think about not having it ..

2008 Mar 13 06:40 PM

[brent:]

Vyceroy, if you like Exubera, you'll love Technosphere. And LJ, in fairness, you don't know what you're talking about. They're a research team surviving on stock sales? They're surviving because the founder and CEO, Al Mann, has pumped more than a billion dollars of his own money into the company to fund r&d because he believes this product will be the biggest drug ever. The diabetic market is HUGE (pun intended). Maybe you've never heard of Al Mann and wonder how he comes to have a spare billion to invest in this company. Well, he took two other biotechs from startup to multi-billion dollar companies, helped countless people, contributed to humanity, and made billions in the process. A repetition confusing the investing public? Idiotic.
The website link is to a CNBC interview with the Mann himself. In it, the self-made pharma-billionaire says Technosphere is technologically superior to the failed inhalables in the way it delivers insulin and offers significant clinical advantages to current insulin therapies, allowing the patient to manage his or her blood sugar levels more effectively without having to stick needles in the skin. As he says, it changes the whole paradigm of therapy. Exubera's failure and the other companies withdrawals simply eliminates potential competition. When Al Mann again proves he's got the Midas Touch, like in every other venture he's ever attempted, people are going to wish they'd bought when it was this low.
Full disclosure, I'm invested.

2008 Mar 21 03:24 AM

[rabbimarket...:]

ALFRED AKA:{ALMIGHTY} MANNKIND, is really one true leap forward example, in this present time & space, continuim world...& a defacto ever of essence example, of one'$ money talks & bs walks & as it says many time over by moses, in the holy bible, "that the almightys actions will always speak louder then mere words...'' & that he is preci$ely right about the natural midas touch that he has been ble$$ed with in regards to his competition, that has naturally been taken out of his down the road potential rivalistic misery...& one less thing to think about when he does immenantly for $ure get fda approval...& $ales go off the hook...so please dont hold your horses or bulls from running away $hortly...& no multiple puns intented...& please try to humbly remember that thee "profiteering rabbimarketmaker" told you so, from his wall street {rabbimarketmakers} pulpit...almighty al, just from a statistically point of {charting} view & school, tht i am from...his public records $peak volumes for & all by themselves...so take that to the bank...& in regards to technosphere technology...as a fact...the data is now very clear in the effects, that this way of absorbing the meds is actually more significantly, & effectively more multi-dimentionally absorb-able, then any other form of insulin injectables...it is just that the other potentials just did have the brass balls needed to fight this tough battle , & not want to hang in there & fight a obviously huge uphill crowded pharma battle field on so many fronts...never mind trying to payola the Dr$, never ending greed for who i$ going to jockey for his $uppotive allegiance...anyway who needs & wants any competition, when it comes to buying this...on the cheap...me & my friends hope & prey...you all continue to jump ship & bail & even run for the hills, never mind staying on the sidelines awaiting for the i should of, could, & would of...like the lion & the tin man song goes, "if i only had some heart..." & for all the karma religous types that like to believe in, what goes around {must} comes around...almighty al, has over a prolonged period of time, invested & pumped hundred$ of million$ U$D into the spread spectrum aqious wave-guide sea of humanity less fortunate economys of $cale, especially in the promi$ed land...so go continue to further speculate for your greedy $elve$...mazel tov & hatz-lucha & a joyes shushan purim...oye gevalt, i just cant believe it is over & cant wait for pass-over with non geh'bruxed matzoh like balls in my soup...shalom & yeh'chee. & enjoy the prayer link thekotel.org

2008 Mar 25 04:01 AM