MannKind Corp. (MNKD)

[TREND1]

Author’s reply » Exact Sciences (EXAS) announced today (11-25-14) that they had gained reimbursement approval from Medicare and Medicaid, adding just more payers that have announced their approval for reimbursement. Exact CEO referred to this event as being a major milestone for the company.
http://bit.ly/1uUkOd0-cologuard®-from-cms
(EXAS) got FDA approval for their product in August, whereas, Mannkind got Afrezza approved by the FDA in June. But even with this nearly two month’s head start, we have Mannkind and their partner Sanofi apparently without one payer signed up for reimbursement of Afrezza.

When I previously mentioned the quick and successful achievement for this critical issue of payment sources for a drug company’s success, I was chastised for attempting to compare Apples to Oranges. Apparently the poster doesn’t have a clue that its reimbursement, the event that Exact Sciences calls a major milestone for being a success, that is the issue. Not Apples and Oranges—rather having someone other than the patients having to cover the cost of Afrezza is the issue.
Mannkind has a coming out party where the host merely warned potential customers that they should be aware of the bad things about the product, and what might be a cavalier attitude about bothering to get Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital payers to reimburse their users. Now that the November 20th gala didn’t provide the catalyst for turning around the stock, now the excuse is that Mannkind and Sanofi plan a stealth marketing campaign to keep their competitors in the dark.
Since Mannkind got FDA approval, the stock is down 38%. Since Exact got FDA approval, their stock is up 47%. And the reason for this disparity in the two stocks---with Mannkind, it’s a conspiracy against them. It doesn’t matter that Mannkind couldn’t even tell their partner what expenses were incurred for the partnership in the 3rdQ, it seems that even getting critical events such as reimbursement for payors isn’t a priority. Now I remember, back in the days of Exubera, Pfizer couldn’t get Medicare/Medicaid full reimbursement for this inhalable insulin, and the British government flat refused to pay one schilling for reimbursement for Exubera. I wonder if this is why Afrezza hasn’t been filed in the EU—sure is lot of speculation about expanding the market, but no attempt to get the product approved for these market.

MY COMMENT
This is why I am waiting for MNKD earings before I place my money on MNKD