MannKind Corp. (MNKD)

[Cave In Temptor]

Why Jefferies says buy with $10 target

To add to the discussion, an interesting very recent contrarian coverage initiation by Jefferies, with a price target of $10.00.

August 27, 2014, 3:55 P.M. ET
By Ben Levisohn - Baron

Shares of MannKind (MNKD) have gained 1.8% to $7.47 at 3:49 p.m. today after Jefferies initiated the company at Buy. Jefferies analyst Shaunak Deepak explains why he’s bullish on MannKind’s shares:
" The Street Is Negatively Biased Against Afrezza Launch. MannKind is off 33% since the Afrezza approval, reflecting negative Street sentiment about the Sanofi partnership and upcoming launch. Key concerns include docs not adopting Afrezza as a first-line insulin, aggressive counter-detailing from Novo and Eli Lilly (LLY) to protect their stake in the $6b+ mealtime insulin market, and a bad track record with the only other approved inhaled insulin, Exubera.

We Believe Afrezza Could Radically Grow Mealtime Insulin Use. We believe Afrezza could address a major unmet need among patients poorly controlled with oral drugs that have not advanced to injectable agents. Surveys of insulin non-adherence suggest a not insubstantial portion of patients reject insulin due to reluctance to take shots. Accounting for other factors that influence patient avoidance of insulin, we believe Afrezza could be used as a first-line insulin for almost 8% of type 2 patients failing oral drugs, worth $1.6b in peak U.S. sales. We believe Sanofi would promote Afrezza as a first-line insulin to gain and retain patients for its $8b+ insulin franchise."