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Post by babaoriley on Oct 3, 2016 10:27:31 GMT -5
Patents for undeveloped products are valued the same way as for developed products. The only value of a patent is to exclude competitors from the market, presently or in the future, so by paying anything for a patent you are making a bet that A) a lucrative market for the patent will develop, B) that the patent is legally valid and cannot by bypassed with clever engineering, and C) that you will be successful in making the product. There are examples where somebody paid dearly for a potential market, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. Pfizer bought Wyeth for a number of reasons, but mostly it was to get control of a drug then in development that would later become Lipitor. Great bet, they made out like bandits. As Lipitor approached patent expiration, Pfizer bought another patent for a new generation of cholesterol therapy, from the exact same scientists that invented Lipitor, and that bet turned into a $1.1 billion write-off of Experion Therapeutics. Experion is still around, but is a reboot of its former self; Pfizer is long gone. Technosphere is a drug delivery technology looking for a drug to deliver. There are MANY drug delivery technologies out there, Alza was a multi-billion company that did nothing but develop drug delivery methods, but the trick is forming a marriage between a drug that needs a better delivery method and an ideal method that will still have valid patent claims by the time the drug is approved. If MNKD finds one of those, Technosphere will have value. The biggest risk in pharma is that there is another way to do something that does not violate still valid patent claims. I am presently negotiating a license to a small molecule from a "Big Pharma" for a particular purpose. If they want to play ball, I am happy to pay them a modest royalty because they have done a lot of work characterizing the molecule and I won't have to take the time or spend the money on duplicating the safety tests. If not, I know at least two places I can go to obtain similar molecules, one with an expired patent and one that had their patent denied as not being novel. The fact that I have alternatives will determine how much I am willing pay the "Big Pharma" for a license. matt, your last paragraph is so true in pharma and in tech.
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Post by corpplanner on Oct 3, 2016 15:45:59 GMT -5
Baba, great post on Technosphere being a delivery system in search of a drug. Minor correction: Warner-Lambert developed Lipitor, I believe.
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Post by matt on Oct 3, 2016 15:54:29 GMT -5
Baba, great post on Technosphere being a delivery system in search of a drug. Minor correction: Warner-Lambert developed Lipitor, I believe. Correct on Warner-Lambert (I think). It was developed at the old Parke-Davis research facility in Ann Arbor which went through several owners in the consolidation of American Home, Warner-Lambert, and Parke Davis, all of which wound up as part of Pfizer (as did Wyeth) but I am not sure who owned the molecule at which point. I spent a little too much time consulting with a particular unit of Pfizer to keep it all straight in my old age.
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Post by sweedee79 on Oct 3, 2016 19:26:03 GMT -5
Well I sure hope that Mannkind Cares can pull a rabbit out of their hat for my dad and medicare insurance coverage.. as it stands there really is only ONE part D plan that covers Afrezza and only on tier 4 .. that is United American Enhanced.. after looking at the formularies of many part d plans, it looks like they have all moved every kind insulin and diabetic treatment to tiers 3 and 4.... including Novolog and Humalog .. and it looks like Afrezza is still quite a bit more expensive than both of them ..
First step today.... we met with a GP .. who will then refer us to a specialist who prescribes Afrezza.. The GP seemed angry with me for not being happy with Novolog.. JEEZ .. its like Novolog is their child and they just have to protect it becuz they get down right defensive.. Sometimes it seems they are threatened by new treatments they don't know anything about.. or maybe it bugs them when patients know more than they do.. I don't know.. but this doc had NEVER heard of Afrezza..
It will be weeks before the GP gets my dads medical records.. then I have to get things squared away with dads existing part d coverage... the new GP has to be made my dads primary physician before he will be allowed to make a referral.. he is going along with it .. reluctantly.. and raves about Novolog which both dad and I are sneering at..... .. and he wont hear any of it.. cant wait to get to bigger city specialist who prescribes Afrezza.. trying to keep a positive attitude..
From what I have heard.. mainstream insurance is way more liberal with their coverage, but I am one of those who believes that a price reduction needs to be made to compensate for the lack of insurance coverage.. at least for now.. even if it is slight we need to reach patients.. we need scripts.. the reps can talk and talk and talk .. but if the patients cant afford it, it wont make much difference.. and from what I have seen this will be patient driven.. If we can reach most endos, the primary care physicians can refer patients wanting(demanding) Afrezza to the docs in the know.. these GPs are a hard sell.. As soon as we reach most endos and have worked on a few insurance problems.. we need to start advertising..
I certainly can understand the discouragement.. been there..but Mike C hasn't been behaving like someone ready to give up .. remember our Outsulin character and everything that has been worked on.. its been amazing.. there is a plan .. we either watch it unfold .. or sell.. I'm holding..
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Post by babaoriley on Oct 4, 2016 0:27:57 GMT -5
Baba, great post on Technosphere being a delivery system in search of a drug. Minor correction: Warner-Lambert developed Lipitor, I believe. Thanks, and I agree with you, corpplanner, but just a small, rather insignificant correction, it was matt's post.
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