MannKind to Participate in 2022 Medicare Part D Senior Savin

[kite]

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD), announced today that it will participate in the 2022 Medicare Part D Senior Savings Model, which is intended to improve the affordability of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries by capping the co-pay per 30-day supply at $35. MannKind will offer all dosage strengths of Afrezza® (insulin human) Inhalation Powder, an ultra rapid-acting inhaled insulin indicated to improve glycemic control in adults with diabetes.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a third of Medicare beneficiaries have diabetes, and over 3.3 million beneficiaries use one or more dosage forms of insulin. For many, the cost of insulin can become a barrier to accessing appropriate medical treatment for diabetes management. The Medicare Part D Senior Savings Model, which launched earlier this year, provides seniors greater, and more affordable, access to the treatment options they need.

"MannKind is pleased to participate in the 2022 Medicare Part D Senior Savings Model and we are excited to partner with Part D plans to ensure their members have affordable access to the only inhaled insulin therapy,” said Michael Castagna, Chief Executive Officer of MannKind. “There are gaps in our current healthcare system when it comes to access and affordability, and we believe the Model is an important step toward addressing these issues and a potential improvement in the quality of care for seniors living with diabetes.”

MannKind’s participation in the Model will commence in 2022 and will join other initiatives that MannKind has introduced in recent years to help patients afford their insulin. Most recently, MannKind launched AfrezzaAssistSM, which helps facilitate patient access to affordability programs. These programs include a co-pay assistance program for patients with commercial insurance, which lowers copays to as little as $15 (see afrezza.com/savings-program/ for more details), as well as a direct purchase cash program that provides a more affordable option for uninsured patients (see www.insulinsavings.com/ for more details). To learn more about options to help reduce out of pocket costs, patients and healthcare providers can speak with a support specialist at AfrezzaAssistSM by calling (toll free) 1-844-323-7399 Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm ET.

About MannKind Corporation

MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) focuses on the development and commercialization of inhaled therapeutic products for patients with endocrine and orphan lung diseases. MannKind is currently commercializing Afrezza® (insulin human) Inhalation Powder, the Company’s first FDA-approved product and the only inhaled ultra rapid-acting mealtime insulin in the United States, where it is available by prescription from pharmacies nationwide. Afrezza is also available by prescription in Brazil where it is commercialized by the Company’s partner Biomm SA. MannKind is headquartered in Westlake Village, California, and has a state-of-the art manufacturing facility in Danbury, Connecticut. The Company also employs field sales and medical representatives across the U.S. For further information, visit www.mannkindcorp.com.

[yash]

People are always complaining that no transparency by the company.

See, MC is updating you almost one year in advance.. 

[boomboom]

Nice to see Mannkind playing with the big boys in 2022. In 2021, it was just the big 3.

“The following pharmaceutical manufacturers are participating in the Part D Senior Savings Model for CY 2022:

Eli Lilly and Company
MannKind Corporation
Mylan Specialty L.P., a Viatris Company
Novo Nordisk, Inc. and Novo Nordisk Pharma, Inc.
Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC”

innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/part-d-savings-model

[longliner]

It looks like the market is finally absorbing what this part D coverage means for Mannkind going forward.

[itellthefuture777]

Mar 15, 2021 9:37:38 GMT -5 boomboom said:

Nice to see Mannkind playing with the big boys in 2022. In 2021, it was just the big 3.

“The following pharmaceutical manufacturers are participating in the Part D Senior Savings Model for CY 2022:

Eli Lilly and Company
MannKind Corporation
Mylan Specialty L.P., a Viatris Company
Novo Nordisk, Inc. and Novo Nordisk Pharma, Inc.
Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC”

innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/part-d-savings-model

One in every three Medicare beneficiaries has diabetes, and over 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries use one or more of the common forms of insulin. For some of these beneficiaries, access to insulin can be a critical component of their medical management, with gaps in access increasing risk of serious complications, ranging from vision loss to kidney failure to amputation to heart attacks. Unfortunately, sometimes the cost of insulin can be a barrier to appropriate medical management of diabetes.

[geomean]

It is important that Mannkind's Afrezza is included in Medicare Plan D and it's charges are included in the cost basis of the Part D Plan Sponsor's.   The low co-pay should also encourage the use of Afrezza.   Under Part D, Medicare pays private drug plans a combination of capitated payments based on plan bids and cost-based reinsurance subsidies.  Medicare pays Part D plan sponsors (who, through their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), contract with pharmacies over payment rates for each prescription filled by an enrollee and negotiate with drug manufacturers for prices and post-sale rebates).  Medicare’s payments to Part D plan sponsors consists of two components: 1) the direct subsidy, which is a per enrollee capitated payment based on plans’ bids and 2) individual reinsurance in which Medicare pays for 80 percent of an enrollee’s drug spending above Part D’s out-of-pocket (OOP) threshold (cost-based payment). Together, the two forms of Medicare payments are intended to cover 74.5 percent of the expected costs of standard benefits, with enrollee premiums making up the remaining 25.5 percent. See link

[letitride]

All I have to say about this is.
Lets Go!

[sr71]

Mar 15, 2021 9:37:38 GMT -5 boomboom said:

Nice to see Mannkind playing with the big boys in 2022. In 2021, it was just the big 3.

“The following pharmaceutical manufacturers are participating in the Part D Senior Savings Model for CY 2022:

Eli Lilly and Company
MannKind Corporation
Mylan Specialty L.P., a Viatris Company
Novo Nordisk, Inc. and Novo Nordisk Pharma, Inc.
Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC”

innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/part-d-savings-model

This is fantastic news.  If I'm understanding the info correctly from the CMS link provided, each of the insulins listed from all 5 participating pharmaceutical manufacturers will have the same $35 co-pay.
In other words, Afrezza will have price parity  with the other insulins on the co-pays for the 3.3 million Part D Medicare seniors starting January 2022.
The only downside for Mannkind that I see is that there may be no profit on these sales.  But at least it puts Afrezza into the hands of many diabetics who have been locked out of it due to price, which should be worth it to gain market share.

[mytakeonit]

Maximize your production line capabilities and your cost per unit goes down. That's what real accountants say anyway.

But, that's mytakeonit

[uvula]

Making money is best. No profit is sort of okay. Losing money on every rx is not okay. Where does mnkd fall in this spectrum?

[od]

Mar 15, 2021 13:20:44 GMT -5 sr71 said:

Mar 15, 2021 9:37:38 GMT -5 boomboom said:

Nice to see Mannkind playing with the big boys in 2022. In 2021, it was just the big 3.

“The following pharmaceutical manufacturers are participating in the Part D Senior Savings Model for CY 2022:

Eli Lilly and Company
MannKind Corporation
Mylan Specialty L.P., a Viatris Company
Novo Nordisk, Inc. and Novo Nordisk Pharma, Inc.
Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC”

innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/part-d-savings-model

This is fantastic news.  If I'm understanding the info correctly from the CMS link provided, each of the insulins listed from all 5 participating pharmaceutical manufacturers will have the same $35 co-pay.
In other words, Afrezza will have price parity  with the other insulins on the co-pays for the 3.3 million Part D Medicare seniors starting January 2022.
The only downside for Mannkind that I see is that there may be no profit on these sales.  But at least it puts Afrezza into the hands of many diabetics who have been locked out of it due to price, which should be worth it to gain market share.

+ it creates provider prescribing habit (hopefully).

[neil36]

It appears that Medicare Part D had 46 million subscribers in 2020, of which one is five has diabetes. That equates to a potential patient pool of nine million who might be needing insulin.

[uvula]

I'm sure the old hippie will see this because he seems to read all the government diabetes stuff. Maybe he will give us his opinion.

[ryster505]

So, out of curiosity just how big is this news? Was this somewhat expected? Is this a total surprise? Just curious as the stock has yet to react.

[nylefty]

Mar 15, 2021 21:08:40 GMT -5 ryster505 said:

So, out of curiosity just how big is this news? Was this somewhat expected? Is this a total surprise? Just curious as the stock has yet to react.

I don't think it's a big deal at all. MannKind could have joined Big Pharma in this program this year or slashed prices on its own, but it didn't have the money to do that.

It may mean getting a lot more people on Afrezza next year, but at the cost of losing money on every prescription. That may be worth it in terms of getting the word out, but I see no reason for it to affect the stock price anytime this year.