Question about technosphere

[nuklerfizzacist]

Chiming in here, as I can actually offer some meaningful insight for a change; speaking as a migraine sufferer, I would be ecstatic to have at my disposal a quick acting migraine remedy. And I am, undoubtedly, not alone in that sentiment.

[BD]

I've mentioned this before, but my migraine drug of choice, Maxalt (a pill), takes an hour and twenty minutes to kick in. So yeah, faster would be a lot better.

[liane]

Inhalable Imitrex (nasal spray) has long been available.

[BD]

Can you give me a link? I found no inhalable Imitrex, just injections or pills. I did see an inhalable migraine medicine (Levadex) mentioned, but one link was dead and one talked about relief after two hours, which is useless.

[liane]

There's many, but here's one:

www.drugs.com/pro/imitrex-nasal-spray.html

[BD]

Thanks. It's tough to figure out whether the write-ups / reviews are talking about the inhalable or injectible/oral version, though. There's one review that talks about it being effective in 30 minutes, but I suspect that's injected. If inhalable doesn't work in less than an hour, it would have little benefit over Maxalt, which I can get fairly cheap by ordering from a Canadian pharmacy (cheaper than using my insurance and buying at the local drug store, anyway...)

[liane]

From medscape:

In 1996 and 1997 sumatriptan was approved for use by intranasal administration in North America and Europe. Sumatriptan nasal spray is rapidly effective with an onset of efficacy beginning as early as 15 min post-dose compared with placebo.

[jpg]

Apr 26, 2015 19:44:46 GMT -5 liane said:

From medscape:

In 1996 and 1997 sumatriptan was approved for use by intranasal administration in North America and Europe. Sumatriptan nasal spray is rapidly effective with an onset of efficacy beginning as early as 15 min post-dose compared with placebo.

Agreed about the nasal sumatriptan. It was one of the reasons I never thought the migraine Technosphere application wasn't certain. The pulmonary route would obviously be faster but I don't know enough about the migraine market to know if targeting migraines would be wise. Do we even know they are looking at migraine?

A general pain med could be of more use?  The peptide bt Torres would (if it works) be extraordinary but at best that would take a long time. 

[BlueCat]

Apr 25, 2015 16:59:07 GMT -5 @davinci said:

And while it would be awesome to have a pain killer take effect in minutes instead of 30 minutes, is it really necessary?  Is it filling a need?  Would anyone be willing to pay a premium for it?  We would all answer "absolutely I would pay for it" right up until you've been given the choice - "pay 5 bucks per pill but it takes 30 min or pay 15 bucks to inhale and it works in minutes".  

LMAO.  Anyone who would write that unlikely has personally experienced a significant need for pain control.   15 bucks?  Heck, there've been times I would have unblinkingly paid 100 bucks to take it out.

I worked with a young guy years ago whose migraines were simply not controlled by medication.  Unable to bear the pain anymore, he ended himself.  Tragic. 

When pain is acute, people will go for whatever will make it stop.  And fast.



I think the difficult question here is whether there is a large enough market to justify costs from a business perspective.  It is unfortunate as the people in greatest need are generally the hardest to cost justify for development and GTM  - which is why they are in the most need.  Because no one else could 'business-justify' a humanitarian need either.

(And that likely includes the pediatric application of Afrezza.)


Sometimes, I despair the species.

[lynn]

We won't know anything , until we Hear something from Mannkind , but it'd be wise for them to target pain . I've witnessed first hand what prescription pain meds can do to a person (& I've said this before but there are so many newcomers here I'll say it again , just watch " American Addict ". & you'll see why something has to change .

To watch someone who was once a normal happy functioning human being , take something that initially helped them relieve their temporary pain ( in the grand scheme of things ) , turn into an addiction is a heartbreaking story to watch unfold , what I saw didn't end well & from others I've talked too I know I'm not alone .

What I recall about MNKD & pain tx in particular is that it would be a non addictive , non Opioid based , fast working option & the non addictive part is what I'd like to see the most .I've also noticed the crack down (at least with in the health care network I work in ) to get away from prescribing these meds.

I understand that people have pain ( it is recognized as the 5th Vital Sign in Health Care these days ) . But I'm quite passionate about options being available to patients that don't run the risk of creating life long addictions .

And lastly I'm grateful to not suffer from Migraines , I can't imagine as even a small headache rattles me ( but Ibuprofen fixes it just fine ) just my 2 cents after another Long day at work I seem to have these inspirational moments when I'm just tired enough to not give a crap what others on a financial msg board might think ,) & am daring enough to bare a bit of my soul . But I mean no disrespect to those who suffer from Migraines or chronic pain . I Believe that everyone deserves the right to a non addictive option that works . That would easily become a Billion Dollar Mkt IMO

Only time will tell

Lynn

[babaoriley]

Lynn,

How long ago did you stop rubbing whiskey on teething babies' gums?

[mnholdem]

Perhaps one of you can recall the discussion of - was it Al Mann? - about how a morphine-like pain medication would NOT cause addiction if delivered via Technosphere? I'll have to begin searching, but I recall the subject was discussed in an interview.

[brentie]

Apr 27, 2015 5:01:34 GMT -5 mnholdem said:

Perhaps one of you can recall the discussion of - was it Al Mann? - about how a morphine-like pain medication would NOT cause addiction if delivered via Technosphere? I'll have to begin searching, but I recall the subject was discussed in an interview.

"The drug would be a breakthrough in pain medication at a time when state and local legislators are trying to curb addiction to prescription drugs. The drug is designed to provide quick pain relief while eliminating side effects such as addiction, respiratory depression and adverse psychological consequences."


www.tcpalm.com/business/torrey-pines-could-begin-human-testing-of-new-in

[mnholdem]

Thanks, brentie. It was, obviously, the Torrey-Pines drug that I recalled reading about.

Excerpts:

"It's actually pretty marvelous," Houghten said. "You can't (overdose) on this drug."

The drug is being developed in partnership with Mannkind Corp., which has created a small device that allows people to inhale medicine. By inhaling, the medicine can relieve pain quicker than through pill form, Houghten said.

"Our pain compound, if it all works out, ... if you can take that pain compound and just inhale within just 30 seconds to a minute, your pain will be alleviated," Houghten said. "So you can see that that can be a real important step."

The drug has been tested on two separate animal groups and Houghten said the drug will be tested on a third before going before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which must give approval for human trials.

Houghten said the unique nature of the drug could make it easier to get approval.

"You never really quite know," he said. "Right now, everything's looking really good. ... We can't get a high enough dose that causes a problem."

Patients also do not build up a tolerance to the medicine, whereas other pain relievers require patients to take more and more to get the same effect.

Houghten said he is thrilled with the drug's progress.

"In reality is if it's 2014 (before human testing), I'm still going to be happy," Houghten said. "I don't think it's going to be a problem with the FDA. It's very simple what we want to do, so we can show them clearly here's the effective dose, here's the toxic dose. That's 90 percent of it right there. It's effective and it's not toxic."

The only mention of trials at the website for the research facility Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies is this blurb mentioned on their website: "A compound discovered by scientists at Torrey Pines has recently completed Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of pain. The rights to the Torrey Pines discovery were initially licensed to Ferring Pharmaceuticals and later transferred to Cara Therapeutics who is currently responsible for compound development."

On a related note, with a SP of $9 and this analyst's $22 target, I have added CARA to my watch list. www.analystratings.com/2015/03/27/cara-therapeutics-recieves-new-rating-from-top-analyst/389359/

-----

So question remains as to whether this particular drug MannKind and Torrey were working on falls under the list of API's being developed for other companies, which Hakan mentioned, or is this particular drug is included on the list of pain meds we were told has recently approved for development by the Board of Directors.  I have sent an email to Torrey to inquire whether their move to Cara Therapeutics indicates that they are no longer working with MannKind. Hopefully they will reply, as it would appear I/we have seldom have a choice but to wait and wait until MannKind management tells us anything.

It pains me to say it, but I think I'm actually getting used to it.

[spiro]

mnholdem and brentie,

Thanks for the reinforcement, now Spiro is going from having benign investor fatigue into a more serious investor coma. Actually, I guess Spiro has been comatose for several years now, based on his inability to lighten up.

Spiro here, it's mental coma, not a physical coma, so he can still type gibberish