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Post by greg on Jan 5, 2016 18:59:09 GMT -5
1. The termination of the agreement was no surprise, per Matt, with the company letting Hakan go, hiring a new CEO, and already exploring changes required to make Afrezza a success, in anticipation for what was announced this morning.
2. Some folks have been questioning, repeatedly, the absense of the new CEO on today's CC. What exactly would the point have been, when today was his first day on the job??? How many of you complainers would have been ready to participate in a high profile Q&A on your first day on the job? Matt stated he couldn't participate on the call but to paraphrase "you can expect to hear from him regularly in the weeks ahead." Also, he will be at next week's healthcare conference, participating in the presentation and in the Q&A, which will be webcast.
3. The company had $59 million to $60 million in cash at the end of 2015, plus the $30 million credit facility. This gets us through a good chunk of 2016.
4. The $175 credit facility with SNY is good until the separation is finalized, so the losses until then accrue to SNY not MNKD. Importantly also, MNKD doesn't have to repay SNY for its share of the losses until 2024.
5. The comments about Technosphere were extremely positive. 1) Matt noted that the foundation of MannKind's future lies in Ti. 2) MNKD is in discussions with prospective partners (notice plural) and more will be announced when discussions "reach fruition." If ongoing studies/discussion with Ti weren't positive, Matt would be going out on a huge limb stating above, and there really are very few benefits to be leading us on on this front.
6. All in all, next week's presentation and Q&A should be very interesting. I have no doubt the new CEO knew exactly what he was getting into, and I look forward to his initial presentation as MNKD's new face.
7. As for the stock price, it is what it is. I had no intentions of selling at $7 or $1.50, and I certainly won't be selling at the current price. Afrezza is a great product, there remains a huge potential market for it, and I will go down with the ship if that what it comes to. The whole MannKind story has been the most bizzarre i've experienced in many decades on Wall Street and I fully intend to wait out the happy ending.
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Post by greg on Jan 5, 2016 20:43:12 GMT -5
There were a few other comments on this thread that appear to have disappeared. In any case....
I listened to the CC several more times and it's quite apparent the parting of ways was developing for quite some time.
Matt notes that the separation that came to pass yesterday was not envisioned when the agreement was signed in August 2014 but it became clear as 2015 progressed and scripts stayed low that changes were required. As such, MNKD "began a process of independent research," which determined that a new marketing and pricing strategy was required.
Although left unstated, MNKD, which had very little leverage, was unable to persuade SNY to implement a new marketing strategy nor to lower the price. So, even though SNY was the one that delivered the notice to terminate, it's clear MNKD wasn't surprised, and probably not disappointed to be independent and able to enter 2016 with a clean slate.
In a statement by SNY, it says that it made a substantial effort to commercialize Afrezza. BUNK. How come it never bothered to lower the price, to make it competitive with the other mealtime insulins, consistent with its label? How come it never bother to advertise beyond a few ads in a couple of magazines? How about the woman SNY put out to be interviewed by several television news programs? I was always left yelling at her to say something positive about Afrezza, rather than going on and on about whom it's not approved for.
I'm not sure I really understand SNY's motivations to have done what little it did but, based on a podcast I listened to of Desisto at some medtech symposium two years ago, I think he may be the perfect guy for the job.
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Post by mnholdem on Jan 5, 2016 21:13:29 GMT -5
There were a few other comments on this thread that appear to have disappeared. I removed some subsequent posts directed against board members for violation of board rules. Regardless of whether a poster feels it justified or not...
3.1. Personal insults and name calling of any kind will not be allowed.
Read Board Rules: mnkd.proboards.com/thread/11/#ixzz3wQTfcPnE
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2016 0:18:22 GMT -5
Let me also point. My best friend is diabetic and he has had low blood sugar attacks right in front of me. I had to run and get him candy once as he looked like he was od'ing from a low blood sugar attack. Its the whole reason I am invested in this company. Have you ever seen a diabetic have a low blood sugar attack? You want to know what else? He went for a script of Afrezza and was turned down. I have bounced this drug off him since the first day I got involved. He is an IT guy with zero education in the market and his first thoughts were "if this drug can do what they claim and after the multiple twitter videos they are going to have problems because of how much money big pharma can lose.
So yes I stand by my comments that MNKD is out of their league, and dont have enough cash.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2016 0:23:38 GMT -5
Let me also point. My best friend is diabetic and he has had low blood sugar attacks right in front of me. I had to run and get him candy once as he looked like he was od'ing from a low blood sugar attack. Its the whole reason I am invested in this company. Have you ever seen a diabetic have a low blood sugar attack? You want to know what else? He went for a script of Afrezza and was turned down. I have bounced this drug off him since the first day I got involved. He is an IT guy with zero education in the market and his first thoughts were "if this drug can do what they claim and after the multiple twitter videos they are going to have problems because of how much money big pharma can lose. So yes I stand by my comments that MNKD is out of their league, and dont have enough cash. sorry to side track but did he try getting a script from any other doc? just to gauge how persistent he is...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2016 0:32:30 GMT -5
Let me also point. My best friend is diabetic and he has had low blood sugar attacks right in front of me. I had to run and get him candy once as he looked like he was od'ing from a low blood sugar attack. Its the whole reason I am invested in this company. Have you ever seen a diabetic have a low blood sugar attack? You want to know what else? He went for a script of Afrezza and was turned down. I have bounced this drug off him since the first day I got involved. He is an IT guy with zero education in the market and his first thoughts were "if this drug can do what they claim and after the multiple twitter videos they are going to have problems because of how much money big pharma can lose. So yes I stand by my comments that MNKD is out of their league, and dont have enough cash. sorry to side track but did he try getting a script from any other doc? just to gauge how persistent he is... Not a big deal I shared this awhile back. He told the Dr to learn about or he is going some where else. The Dr said to give him 30 days and we are coming close to that time. We lived together when we were younger and I remember him complaining about endos giving him the pump which ended up becoming revolutionary. Endos are difficult conservative Dr's
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Post by dreamboatcruise on Jan 6, 2016 1:28:03 GMT -5
1. The termination of the agreement was no surprise, per Matt, with the company letting Hakan go, hiring a new CEO, and already exploring changes required to make Afrezza a success, in anticipation for what was announced this morning. 2. Some folks have been questioning, repeatedly, the absense of the new CEO on today's CC. What exactly would the point have been, when today was his first day on the job??? How many of you complainers would have been ready to participate in a high profile Q&A on your first day on the job? Matt stated he couldn't participate on the call but to paraphrase "you can expect to hear from him regularly in the weeks ahead." Also, he will be at next week's healthcare conference, participating in the presentation and in the Q&A, which will be webcast. 3. The company had $59 million to $60 million in cash at the end of 2015, plus the $30 million credit facility. This gets us through a good chunk of 2016. 4. The $175 credit facility with SNY is good until the separation is finalized, so the losses until then accrue to SNY not MNKD. Importantly also, MNKD doesn't have to repay SNY for its share of the losses until 2024. 5. The comments about Technosphere were extremely positive. 1) Matt noted that the foundation of MannKind's future lies in Ti. 2) MNKD is in discussions with prospective partners (notice plural) and more will be announced when discussions "reach fruition." If ongoing studies/discussion with Ti weren't positive, Matt would be going out on a huge limb stating above, and there really are very few benefits to be leading us on on this front. 6. All in all, next week's presentation and Q&A should be very interesting. I have no doubt the new CEO knew exactly what he was getting into, and I look forward to his initial presentation as MNKD's new face. 7. As for the stock price, it is what it is. I had no intentions of selling at $7 or $1.50, and I certainly won't be selling at the current price. Afrezza is a great product, there remains a huge potential market for it, and I will go down with the ship if that what it comes to. The whole MannKind story has been the most bizzarre i've experienced in many decades on Wall Street and I fully intend to wait out the happy ending. #1... will you testify in court as an expert witness that they misled shareholders recently claiming they had no indication that SNY was not committed to Afrezza? I'd be interested in your analysis of the evidence in Matt's comments about prior knowledge.
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Post by greg on Jan 6, 2016 7:26:39 GMT -5
#1... will you testify in court as an expert witness that they misled shareholders recently claiming they had no indication that SNY was not committed to Afrezza? I'd be interested in your analysis of the evidence in Matt's comments about prior knowledge.
"testify," "expert witness," "court."
Where's any of this coming from? A complete side show and a waste of time, as far as I'm concerned.
As for SNY's commitment, would you have expected Matt to say in a public conference call that the company was suspicious that its partner was sandbagging.
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Post by peppy on Jan 6, 2016 8:12:25 GMT -5
From the conference call "It became clear as 2015 progressed, and sales forecasts were not met that change would be required for Afrezza to achieve market success that we believe and still believe is possible. We next began a process of independent research that helped us validate that new sales efforts and a different pricing strategy was required. "
Matt told us the plan. The plan "- education: physician, patients." "redefining pricing, and contracting tactics to improve reimbursement and patient access to commercial and government payers."
"clean slate, new approach" "Now non exclusive"
investors.mannkindcorp.com/events.cfm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then the out licensing mention: "several potential out licensing transactions for additional product opportunities"
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Post by mindovermatter on Jan 6, 2016 8:18:03 GMT -5
From the conference call "It became clear as 2015 progressed, and sales forecasts were not met that change would be required for Afrezza to achieve market success that we believe and still believe is possible. We next began a process of independent research that helped us validate that news sales efforts and a different pricing strategy was required. "
Matt told us the plan. The plan "- education: physician, patients." "redefining pricing, and contracting tactics to improve reimbursement and patient access to commercial and government payers."
"clean slate, new approach" "Now non exclusive"
investors.mannkindcorp.com/events.cfm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then the out licensing mention: "several potential out licensing transactions for additional product opportunities"
The easy thing is to verbally say it. The tough part is actually putting it into action. I'm curious to know HOW Mannkind is going to execute on this. Maybe we'll get some idea of this next week but not going to hold my breath.
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Post by peppy on Jan 6, 2016 8:28:01 GMT -5
From the conference call "It became clear as 2015 progressed, and sales forecasts were not met that change would be required for Afrezza to achieve market success that we believe and still believe is possible. We next began a process of independent research that helped us validate that news sales efforts and a different pricing strategy was required. "
Matt told us the plan. The plan "- education: physician, patients." "redefining pricing, and contracting tactics to improve reimbursement and patient access to commercial and government payers."
"clean slate, new approach" "Now non exclusive"
investors.mannkindcorp.com/events.cfm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then the out licensing mention: "several potential out licensing transactions for additional product opportunities"
The easy thing is to verbally say it. The tough part is actually putting it into action. I'm curious to know HOW Mannkind is going to execute on this. Maybe we'll get some idea of this next week but not going to hold my breath. I imagine these conversations were had with Desisto prior to the CEO announcement. Outlined in duplicate with circles and arrows?
In hind site, I remember the conference call when Matt was excited, because the money was pouring in. The sample orders... We maybe determined that afrezza was/is priced at 10 to 11 dollars a day with no spares and fast acting injectable analogs $3.19 a day. Price, the real problem in a nut shell. once covered, physicians will prescribe it... because of demand.
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Post by greg on Jan 6, 2016 8:34:12 GMT -5
"The easy thing is to verbally say it. The tough part is actually putting it into action. I'm curious to know HOW Mannkind is going to execute on this. Maybe we'll get some idea of this next week but not going to hold my breath."
I fully agree that saying it verbally is the easy thing. Then again, having a game plan to rectify the situation is critically important too.
Things look challenging now but having just a few good things go right and the entire outlook could change.
1. MNKD inking a deal or two for Ti brings breathing room, provides flexibility, and injects needed confidence, to both investors and management. 2. Getting Afrezza approved in another country or two, small or large, where FDA approval is sufficient, will do wonders on so many fronts. The company would need a large sales force in the U.S. but not necessarily so elsewhere. Why SNY made no effort on this is beyond me. 3. Can't imagine it would be difficult to sign up regional partners. Signing up a partner or two also provides some breathing room.
Keep in mind also the clean slate equals, at least at this point, 100% of all profits, not just 35%.
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Post by peppy on Jan 6, 2016 8:45:25 GMT -5
"The easy thing is to verbally say it. The tough part is actually putting it into action. I'm curious to know HOW Mannkind is going to execute on this. Maybe we'll get some idea of this next week but not going to hold my breath." I fully agree that saying it verbally is the easy thing. Then again, having a game plan to rectify the situation is critically important too. Things look challenging now but having just a few good things go right and the entire outlook could change. 1. MNKD inking a deal or two for Ti brings breathing room, provides flexibility, and injects needed confidence, to both investors and management. 2. Getting Afrezza approved in another country or two, small or large, where FDA approval is sufficient, will do wonders on so many fronts. The company would need a large sales force in the U.S. but not necessarily so elsewhere. Why SNY made no effort on this is beyond me. 3. Can't imagine it would be difficult to sign up regional partners. Signing up a partner or two also provides some breathing room. Keep in mind also the clean slate equals, at least at this point, 100% of all profits, not just 35%. Regional partners, why? (well, sabotage ) More importantly, take Canada, a national health care system and Europe the same. At the USA price points, USA insurance companies would not cover, these regional partnerships would be just as moot. The Reason Price. 10 dollar or 3 dollars and we can tell them it's the same chit.
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Post by greg on Jan 6, 2016 8:52:44 GMT -5
Regional partners, why? (well, sabotage ) More importantly, take Canada, a national health care system and Europe the same. At the USA price points, USA insurance companies would not cover, these regional partnerships would be just as moot. The Reason Price. 10 dollar or 3 dollars and we can tell them it's the same chit.
Peppy,
I'm not sure I understand your points.
1. What would the problem be with having an Eisai or a Takeda market the product in the Far East, for example? Why moot? 2. Sabotage? 3. Price would obviously be lower elsewhere, just as the price has to be lowered in the U.S.
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Post by mindovermatter on Jan 6, 2016 9:02:33 GMT -5
The easy thing is to verbally say it. The tough part is actually putting it into action. I'm curious to know HOW Mannkind is going to execute on this. Maybe we'll get some idea of this next week but not going to hold my breath. I imagine these conversations were had with Desisto prior to the CEO announcement. Outlined in duplicate with circles and arrows?
In hind site, I remember the conference call when Matt was excited, because the money was pouring in. The sample orders... We maybe determined that afrezza was/is priced at 10 to 11 dollars a day with no spares and fast acting injectable analogs $3.19 a day. Price, the real problem in a nut shell. once covered, physicians will prescribe it... because of demand.
I concur that Desisto knew full well that Sanofi was exiting. It's why the PR of his hire NEVER stated a thing about being excited about working with Sanofi. Desisto is going to be very busy trying to save Mannkind.
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