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Post by gamblerjag on Oct 20, 2016 16:57:49 GMT -5
all of the above.. yes/no yes/maybe no no/maybe yes/no/maybe.. I'm getting dizzy
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 9:49:57 GMT -5
Given this weeks script count, it looks to be all but over. Would not be surprised to find out that some of the sales team are no longer selling Afrezza. As employees of Touchpoint, they could be reassigned to another client. Maybe Mike C's efforts are a beta test to demonstrate that with $$, the sales and marketing initiative could be scaled successfully but at this point, baring a miracle I think its lights out. Too bad a few years ago when SP was higher they did not raise an extra few hundred million but hindsight is 20/20 I guess.
Good to interact with all of you on ProBoards. Lots of interesting people and discussions.
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Cash
Oct 28, 2016 9:54:21 GMT -5
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Post by cjm18 on Oct 28, 2016 9:54:21 GMT -5
Given this weeks script count, it looks to be all but over. Would not be surprised to find out that some of the sales team are no longer selling Afrezza. As employees of Touchpoint, they could be reassigned to another client. Maybe Mike C's efforts are a beta test to demonstrate that with $$, the sales and marketing initiative could be scaled successfully but at this point, baring a miracle I think its lights out. Too bad a few years ago when SP was higher they did not raise an extra few hundred million but hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Good to interact with all of you on ProBoards. Lots of interesting people and discussions. Reassigned to another client? Another conspiracy theorist. Impressive.
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Cash
Oct 28, 2016 10:16:30 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 10:16:30 GMT -5
The numbers might reflect frustration among the sales people. With only 70 of them working the country and not being rabid mnkd employees fighting for their financial lives, one has to wonder how much energy the boots on the ground are actually expending trying to get afrezza into the minds of patients and doctors alike. So whether sales is being reassigned or not I don't see as the point, imo. If sales are paid based on performance, this sales group has been going at it for 3-4 months now and not making any money. If they haven't been put on other drugs to sell, they will have to quit and find other work to put food on the table. However, I have no idea what the financial arrangement is between sales and mnkd - do they get paid a salary or is it performance based compensation? Either way, the core problems persists.
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Oct 28, 2016 10:30:02 GMT -5
Post by matt on Oct 28, 2016 10:30:02 GMT -5
However, I have no idea what the financial arrangement is between sales and mnkd - do they get paid a salary or is it performance based compensation? Virtually all contract sale deals are a combination of salary plus bonus plus a fee for the third-party. Publicis will get paid for their efforts, regardless, and they will make sure that they can pay base salary and car allowances for their salesmen. Some sales people, no doubt, will be looking for other jobs but since contract pharma jobs are usually not very lucrative most contractors are just paying the bills until something better comes along; that is not peculiar to MNKD.
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Oct 28, 2016 10:34:56 GMT -5
Post by surplusvalue on Oct 28, 2016 10:34:56 GMT -5
Given this weeks script count, it looks to be all but over. Would not be surprised to find out that some of the sales team are no longer selling Afrezza. As employees of Touchpoint, they could be reassigned to another client. Maybe Mike C's efforts are a beta test to demonstrate that with $$, the sales and marketing initiative could be scaled successfully but at this point, baring a miracle I think its lights out. Too bad a few years ago when SP was higher they did not raise an extra few hundred million but hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Good to interact with all of you on ProBoards. Lots of interesting people and discussions. Scotta, Beta test? Well, even if so the scripts are going in the wrong direction given the last two weeks. I dont think its quite over; by December we'll have a better sense of scripts(partially) if DTC efforts kick in effectively. Given that this astute CFO didnt raise cash when MNKD should have and given the report this week, MNKD should be discussing cash flow NOW.(what are they waiting for?) Appreciate your discussions here as well.
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Post by matt on Oct 28, 2016 11:30:55 GMT -5
We know the cash situation is not good, but we don't really know how bad it is. We have the June 10Q, but Sanofi was 100% in control back then and MNKD has been ramping up its sales efforts though the late summer and the coming 10Q will give the first glimpse of cash flow in the post-Sanofi era. Even then, Q3 was kind of mixed up and the first time we get a glimpse at a 100% clean MNKD quarter won't be until the 10K in March.
There are ways to conserve cash, but it is not possible to conserve cash and execute all the programs shareholders expect. Label changes require significant regulatory submissions and those aren't cheap, DTC advertising is not free, Publicis wants to get paid, R&D progress on Epi or the RLS deal costs money. Just be realistic; management is not going to be able to cut spending to conserve cash without sacrificing some projects shareholders want to see. Cut them a little slack.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 11:36:34 GMT -5
If someone has strong sales skills, they don't work in pharma. They go elsewhere and make several times what a pharma rep makes. Even if you have some good reps in your pharma salesforce (and good ones clearly have a positive impact on the bottom line) these reps are also at the mercy of the managed care contracts in their respective territories and this is something they have no control over. If the rep calls on Dr. Smith but the patient drives 10 miles to their nearest Walgreens, that Rx may get filled in a location outside of the reps territory. Sales credit is an ongoing issue in the world of Pharma reps. Pharma used to offer a decent stable income but not big money. Today, less money and less stable, at least compared to the past. I was skeptical when the deal with Sanofi was signed and I was skeptical when the decision was made to use rent-a-reps from publicis. At a small company, especially a startup or early commercialization stage organization, people make all the difference. Good product helps but good people with fair product will outperform fair people with good product every time and make no mistake, the battle is won or last with sales and marketing. When Insulet enforced DeSisto's non-compete, part of the reason I suspect is because Insulet has a deal going with Lilly to put their U-500 and U-200 in their pumps & people knew what he was capable of.
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Post by surplusvalue on Oct 28, 2016 11:50:33 GMT -5
We know the cash situation is not good, but we don't really know how bad it is. We have the June 10Q, but Sanofi was 100% in control back then and MNKD has been ramping up its sales efforts though the late summer and the coming 10Q will give the first glimpse of cash flow in the post-Sanofi era. Even then, Q3 was kind of mixed up and the first time we get a glimpse at a 100% clean MNKD quarter won't be until the 10K in March. There are ways to conserve cash, but it is not possible to conserve cash and execute all the programs shareholders expect. Label changes require significant regulatory submissions and those aren't cheap, DTC advertising is not free, Publicis wants to get paid, R&D progress on Epi or the RLS deal costs money. Just be realistic; management is not going to be able to cut spending to conserve cash without sacrificing some projects shareholders want to see. Cut them a little slack. All correct, however no one expects them to do all these at once. Expectations are about setting priorities as to where the greatest effort and expense should be place by managements own admission and plan. Label change is not going to have an immediate effect. Marketing on JD walks ditto. R and D and jumping on the Epi pen issue a distraction. Focus rather than scattered efforts is what conserves cash. Endo education AND strong effective DTC efforts is what was promised and expected; not wasting time and resources on important but not immediate issues especially when you are short of cash.
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Post by matt on Oct 28, 2016 12:32:39 GMT -5
All correct, however no one expects them to do all these at once. I wish that were the case, but the issue is that too many people are expecting too many things to happen. Partly Matt shot himself in the foot by hyping the total RLS milestone payments and letting other discussions get out of hand. I agree completely that the #1 job is convincing more endos to write. That is also the #2 and #3 job, and there is no #4.
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Oct 28, 2016 13:13:17 GMT -5
Post by mnholdem on Oct 28, 2016 13:13:17 GMT -5
As I recall, the 2nd bullet point on the CEO's MannKind 2.0 presentation following the Sanofi termination announcement was to generate cash via international sales. That hasn't happened. I was hoping that Matt would reward the early collaborators with a good deal (in a smaller ex-US market) to get the ball rolling, but now I wonder whether MannKind was too optimistic about Afrezza to make that kind of deal. Some lip service was offered to this subject at an earnings call, implying that MannKind would have to gain traction in the U.S. to get "acceptable" offers for international distribution. Ex-US sales would have the effect of lowering COGS just by increasing the volume coming off the lines, thereby adding to the profit column. I doubt that we'll ever hear what offers were made or what the CEO considers to be acceptable.
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Oct 28, 2016 13:18:15 GMT -5
Post by dictatorsaurus on Oct 28, 2016 13:18:15 GMT -5
As I recall, the 2nd bullet point on the CEO's MannKind 2.0 presentation following the Sanofi termination announcement was to generate cash via international sales. That hasn't happened. I was hoping that Matt would reward the early collaborators with a good deal (in a smaller ex-US market) to get the ball rolling, but now I wonder whether MannKind was too optimistic about Afrezza to make that kind of deal. Some lip service was offered to this subject at an earnings call, implying that MannKind would have to gain traction in the U.S. to get "acceptable" offers for international distribution. Ex-US sales would have the effect of lowering COGS just by increasing the volume coming off the lines, thereby adding to the profit column. I doubt that we'll ever hear what offers were made or what the CEO considers to be acceptable. You've referred to Matt P. as a "friend" in the past. Have you spoken with him recently?
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Oct 28, 2016 18:55:51 GMT -5
Post by derek2 on Oct 28, 2016 18:55:51 GMT -5
From the March 2 2015 10-K:
I bet Matt revisits that decision from time to time.
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Oct 28, 2016 19:40:18 GMT -5
Post by mnholdem on Oct 28, 2016 19:40:18 GMT -5
You've referred to Matt P. as a "friend" in the past. Have you spoken with him recently? No.
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Deleted
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Oct 28, 2016 22:18:44 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 22:18:44 GMT -5
If someone has strong sales skills, they don't work in pharma. They go elsewhere and make several times what a pharma rep makes. Even if you have some good reps in your pharma salesforce (and good ones clearly have a positive impact on the bottom line) these reps are also at the mercy of the managed care contracts in their respective territories and this is something they have no control over. If the rep calls on Dr. Smith but the patient drives 10 miles to their nearest Walgreens, that Rx may get filled in a location outside of the reps territory. Sales credit is an ongoing issue in the world of Pharma reps. Pharma used to offer a decent stable income but not big money. Today, less money and less stable, at least compared to the past. I was skeptical when the deal with Sanofi was signed and I was skeptical when the decision was made to use rent-a-reps from publicis. At a small company, especially a startup or early commercialization stage organization, people make all the difference. Good product helps but good people with fair product will outperform fair people with good product every time and make no mistake, the battle is won or last with sales and marketing. When Insulet enforced DeSisto's non-compete, part of the reason I suspect is because Insulet has a deal going with Lilly to put their U-500 and U-200 in their pumps & people knew what he was capable of. I was crucified when I mentioned something similar here. Sales people that can close that work hard don't get fired and they don't do temporary work. Good hard working sales people are very hard to come by. You don't let good sales people go.
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