Fireside chat with Mannkind CEO Mike Castagna

[mnkdfann]

seekingalpha.com/article/4287312-mannkind-fireside-chat-ceo-mike-castagna

[akemp3000]

This is an excellent article and interview. Good information. It clears up a lot of issues that are being discussed and debated on various threads herein, i.e. VDex, HFM, marketing and many others.

[theebavarian]

Good article, and to me only bolstered the positive outlook for Mannkind and its future. Also, a nice defense against the HFM movement. After reading the article it was kind of a moot point anyway, considering Mike's well thought out defense against the movement, but Spencer didn't ask Mike C if he or Mannkind Board members are receiving input from shareholders on their opposition to HFM (e.g. http://www.mannkindindependence.com).

Mike C represented himself well, as did Spencer. A good read.

[wyattdog]

interesting part of the article."We see additional applications for BluHale for our pipeline that I don’t want to disclose for competitive reasons, but we regard it as a platform technology". than he goes on to say,"We deliver approximately 70% of the inhalation powder contained in the cartridge into the lung.Most inhalers in the asthma space are delivering microgram quantities and many of those can only approach around 30%".

[boca1girl]

Two things that struck me from the article:

1. Unencumbered shares of the 280M authorized total is only 10M. That doesn’t make me feel comfortable and may result in a new request to increase the authorized share count. Mike said he planned for the last increase request to last 3 years so that would time out in 2020. I would only be in favor if an increase if it was to allow for a buy in by a partner.

2. The right of first refusal for China was eliminated when the Amphastar contract was renegotiated. I don’t remember hearing that on the earnings call. I think that’s a positive.

[joeypotsandpans]

This interview should help quiet the lynch mob lol....it shows we do have the right CEO and team in place, the "activist" movement rattled the FDA cage in the wrong fashion and shows why as I stated previously "be careful what you wish for"

[akemp3000]

The big picture takeaway I got from this article and interview is that Mike and the Mannkind management team knows what they're doing far better than all the critics and Monday morning quarterbacks. The risk with this investment continues to drop significantly. Good results still have to come in but with the ever increasing pipeline paths, there's little reason to be concerned with solvency and a lot of reasons to keep loading up if you're a long investor.

[louaboardalia]

A couple of hours ago I received a surprisingly complete and generally positive by Spencer Osborne.  I think Spencer may have turned the corner on MNKD, as he seems to finally understand Mike's vision and direction, and I think it also puts to bed the VDEX activism issue.  What I found particularly interesting are:

1) In discussing the revisions to the Amphastar agreement, Mike noted:

"Additionally, we were able to free up the Afrezza rights in China, for which previously Amphastar had right of first refusal."

That is a potentially significant income stream down the road.

2) Mike was ever so clear as to why MNKD Management has rejected the activist moves by Bill McCullough (VDEX/EFM), the most significant point being Bill's promotional tactics, which Mike described as:

"Vdex’s marketing practices and statements about Afrezza triggered a letter of inquiry to us from the FDA. As a result of their tactics, we cannot be associated with Vdex without creating the perception that we condone off-label promotion. We made Bill aware of this issue, but his meeting notes and subsequent videos in which he criticizes MannKind management as unimaginative and constrained to conventional pharma thinking suggests that he doesn’t take FDA compliance seriously."

3) In discussing UTHR's next molecule, Spencer has speculated in prior articles it will be Adcirca. Mike has not yet disclosed what it will be, but Spencer noted:

"Adcirca is Tadalifiol, the same active ingredient for the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis. United licensed Tadalifil from Lilly (LLY)for PAH treatment. If (and that is a big if) the undisclosed molecule is Adcirca, the United rights are limited to PAH. This would mean that MannKind would retain the rights for an ED indication."

That is also a potentially significant income stream down the road.

Here's the link to the full article, if you have not received...

seekingalpha.com/article/4287312-mannkind-fireside-chat-ceo-mike-castagna

[apidistra]

Absolutely my reading of Spencer. Whoever in MNKD investor relations who brought him onto the property to spend quality time with the team has achieved a very great deal for the company and for investors.

And, I don't want to forget to say, that Mike impressed me very much in both content and civility, especially with regard to VDEX. The unwarranted attacks upon him we read over the past few weeks should have completely evaporated by now in light of what has been revealed.

Frankly, it seemed to me yet another attempt to derail Afrezza. But the impression I have now is that the team is strong, methodical, open, intelligent, competitive and civil. That, combined with the strength of the product, is in my mind unbeatable in the long run.

[castlerockchris]

A solid interview. My take aways are:
1. MNKD is about to go on the offensive when it comes to promoting the stock. They reached out to SO, someone by his admission has been hard on the company. It is much easier to reach out to a "friendly" to produce an article like this than to invite a previously negative writer. IR gets that people are reading SO'sarticles and wants him to have a better understanding of the plan. In addition, MC makes the point about going after institutional investors, which is always a plus. When those of us on this board individually own enough shares to be in the top 20 institutional investors, it says you ain't got many. Kudos to MC for that part of the plan.
2. I get the sense that IR is also following shareholder concerns on this board and used this interview to address several of them. There were several very specific time frames and pathways laid out, and issues addressed that address the concerns expressed on this board. To me, that alone reinforces that fact that the company does care about shareholder concerns and is trying to communicate their plan. It is also clear that SO reads this board given the very specific tone and wording for several of his questions.
3. I would have liked SO to spend a little more time elaborating on his discussions with others, especially Dr. K, marketing leadership and some of the engineering team.
4. Like others, I thought the companies response to HFM was professional, factual, and above the fray. It would have been very easy to simply discount Bill in the interview.
5. I like that MC directly addressed the cash burn on "other marketing" projects costing less < $1mm like the Indy car, TV show, etc. It was helpful and reassuring.
6. I would guess that the company is happy with the digital marketing efforts. Clearly, they understand it gives them the ability to be nimble, targeted and very strategic in its use.
7. I also liked the explanation of Affrezza and potential inflection points and time to get their visa vie other diabetes drugs and their timeline to success.

Keep up the communication MC and team, it certainly makes it a little easier to sleep at night while holding this stock and allows shareholders to have a more faith in management.!

[prcgorman2]

Mannkind retaining rights to and marketing non-PAH tadalifil applications could have a stiffly turgid beneficial effect on revenues (at least).

[uvula]

Aug 22, 2019 13:09:31 GMT -5 apidistra said:

Absolutely my reading of Spencer. Whoever in MNKD investor relations who brought him onto the property to spend quality time with the team has achieved a very great deal for the company and for investors.

Apidistra would be a great drug name. (Please pardon this irrelevant comment.)

[novafett]

Aug 22, 2019 13:07:12 GMT -5 louaboardalia said:

A couple of hours ago I received a surprisingly complete and generally positive ______ by Spencer Osborne.  I think Spencer may have turned the corner on MNKD, as he seems to finally understand Mike's vision and direction, and I think it also puts to bed the VDEX activism issue.  What I found particularly interesting are:

Can you fill in the blank here? An email? A call? A voicemail? A recording of their conversation. Sorry was just confused at this part but LOVED everything else

[sportsrancho]

Aug 22, 2019 14:40:38 GMT -5 novafett said:

Aug 22, 2019 13:07:12 GMT -5 louaboardalia said:

A couple of hours ago I received a surprisingly complete and generally positive ______ by Spencer Osborne.  I think Spencer may have turned the corner on MNKD, as he seems to finally understand Mike's vision and direction, and I think it also puts to bed the VDEX activism issue.  What I found particularly interesting are:

Can you fill in the blank here? An email? A call? A voicemail? A recording of their conversation. Sorry was just confused at this part but LOVED everything else

I’m not at all sure that either one of those things is correct but time will tell. Great post though.

[peppy]

Aug 22, 2019 13:07:12 GMT -5 louaboardalia said:

A couple of hours ago I received a surprisingly complete and generally positive by Spencer Osborne.  I think Spencer may have turned the corner on MNKD, as he seems to finally understand Mike's vision and direction, and I think it also puts to bed the VDEX activism issue.  What I found particularly interesting are:

1) In discussing the revisions to the Amphastar agreement, Mike noted:

"Additionally, we were able to free up the Afrezza rights in China, for which previously Amphastar had right of first refusal."

That is a potentially significant income stream down the road.

2) Mike was ever so clear as to why MNKD Management has rejected the activist moves by Bill McCullough (VDEX/EFM), the most significant point being Bill's promotional tactics, which Mike described as:

"Vdex’s marketing practices and statements about Afrezza triggered a letter of inquiry to us from the FDA. As a result of their tactics, we cannot be associated with Vdex without creating the perception that we condone off-label promotion. We made Bill aware of this issue, but his meeting notes and subsequent videos in which he criticizes MannKind management as unimaginative and constrained to conventional pharma thinking suggests that he doesn’t take FDA compliance seriously."

3) In discussing UTHR's next molecule, Spencer has speculated in prior articles it will be Adcirca. Mike has not yet disclosed what it will be, but Spencer noted:

"Adcirca is Tadalifiol, the same active ingredient for the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis. United licensed Tadalifil from Lilly (LLY)for PAH treatment. If (and that is a big if) the undisclosed molecule is Adcirca, the United rights are limited to PAH. This would mean that MannKind would retain the rights for an ED indication."

That is also a potentially significant income stream down the road.

Here's the link to the full article, if you have not received...

seekingalpha.com/article/4287312-mannkind-fireside-chat-ceo-mike-castagna

You know I am loving this. 
Paraphrasing Mike C: "The molecule has high customer demand."