Spencer Osborne, Contributor
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Author’s reply » Kastanes...
It essentially boils down to Afrezza not equating unit for unit with other insulin. The titration packs sell users more cartridges in a script. From a business standpoint it is a great way to sell off some 12 unit cartridges which are the least popular and people have the most trouble with in terms if side effects.
Afrezza has an advantage because it is inhaled. It also has a disadvantage because it is inhaled.
Inhaling is easier than needles, but simply not as accurate. With a needle you know you got 4 units. With Afrezza you do not know what dose you actually got. Simply stated, people need to buy more cartridges to get the needed results and part of that issue is the accuracy of dosing.
What management has determined is that patients need more cartridges to reach desired results. Creating SKU's with more cartridges accomplishes this.[img] The downside is that people already thought Afrezza was expensive with fewer cartridges. Now it is more expensive.
[/img]The other issue, is that this is not a narrative that helps secure more insurance coverage. It is yet another catch 22. It takes more cartridges to effectively treat, but patients and insurance do not want to pay more money.
The measure we can track is revenue per script.. Revenue per script is moving up, but script counts are not anywhere near where they need to be to attract good terms on financing or a partnership.
If you are invested you need to consider that seriously. What terms can MannKind command with sales in their current state? In my opinion they lack leverage
More cartridges in a script may deliver $100 buck more each, but $100 times 275 is not an exciting number.
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