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Post by sophie on Nov 16, 2016 20:17:05 GMT -5
Has Matt or Mike ever directly addressed prescriber hesitance as a potential cause for low script counts? I know they stated during the conference call that they were not concerned- Reps typically take about 6 months or so to gain traction with physicians, but I can only recall them talking about spirometry, insurance/Prior auths, MannKind Cares, among other things in prior conference calls, but never directly addressing any hesitance from prescribers to prescribe. Is this accurate?
The reason I ask is it's difficult to distinguish between docs who have been fully educated and are just choosing not to prescribe vs those who have/haven't been fully educated on it and may prescribe after hearing more about it or hearing about it for the first time. More money can fix the latter, not so much the former...
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Post by kdaddyfresh2000 on Nov 16, 2016 21:22:07 GMT -5
I'm concerned that we now just learn that we have only 42 folks from a second-rate temp agency hawking the product. Mike even said they're not top notch like a full time employee would be. Again, what is $10 mil/month going towards?!?! Was the 20% reduction (yeah!) in workforce from the one area where it should not have come - the salesforce?! Gee wiz. Again: What are they spending their $10mil/month money on?!?! Zero ads. Plus, I thought we picked up the A Team from the layoffs from Pfizer(?)...
I'm concerned that doctors (ostensibly, but I'm skeptical) are not prescribing due to precarious situation of Mannkind. Which has not changed much since 6 months ago we had six months to go and, today, we have six months to go. Same situation.
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Post by falconquest on Nov 16, 2016 21:55:16 GMT -5
This is where the "rubber meets the road" as they say. There is so much talk about deals and expanding the pipeline but in my mind it's all moot if you can't sell Afrezza. Afrezza sales will drive Technosphere innovations. this has been the plan for many years and yet, Afrezza has not yet been accepted by the marketplace. It's time to sell the product. I'm tired of speculation, I'm tired of potential "deals", if Afrezza is not accepted in the marketplace we're done!
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Post by kdaddyfresh2000 on Nov 16, 2016 22:36:38 GMT -5
This is where the "rubber meets the road" as they say. There is so much talk about deals and expanding the pipeline but in my mind it's all moot if you can't sell Afrezza. Afrezza sales will drive Technosphere innovations. this has been the plan for many years and yet, Afrezza has not yet been accepted by the marketplace. It's time to sell the product. I'm tired of speculation, I'm tired of potential "deals", if Afrezza is not accepted in the marketplace we're done! It'd help if they hired more than 42 folks from a temp agency to replace 700 from Sanofi. $10 mil/month. That's a nice to know fact that kinda explains a lot these last 6 months. I'm so tired of the corporate speak. Confident yet unfounded assertions are abundant in corporate land. Is there a class on it in the MBA curriculum? I think I got the routine down by now: Nod the head. Speak confidently. Cash check. Excise conscience. Repeat. |
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Post by bradleysbest on Nov 18, 2016 10:01:20 GMT -5
Sell it (Afrezza) & they will come (big pharma, investors, publicity etc) ! Hopefully scripts start taking off at a faster rate which will change the game. Big Mike knows this & im sure they are doing the best they can with the resources they have. I am frustrated with the SP like the rest of you but believe in the product & the benefits it will provide PWD.
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Post by farmer on Nov 18, 2016 11:32:55 GMT -5
I'm concerned that we now just learn that we have only 42 folks from a second-rate temp agency hawking the product. Mike even said they're not top notch like a full time employee would be. Again, what is $10 mil/month going towards?!?! Was the 20% reduction (yeah!) in workforce from the one area where it should not have come - the salesforce?! Gee wiz. Again: What are they spending their $10mil/month money on?!?! Zero ads. Plus, I thought we picked up the A Team from the layoffs from Pfizer(?)... I'm concerned that doctors (ostensibly, but I'm skeptical) are not prescribing due to precarious situation of Mannkind. Which has not changed much since 6 months ago we had six months to go and, today, we have six months to go. Same situation. I don't know how accurate the post was, but "kevinmik" posted on YMB back in May that Publicis had 89 openings listed for "pharmaceutical territory business manager" for Mannkind. What happened to those? |
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Post by nylefty on Nov 18, 2016 12:30:31 GMT -5
I'm concerned that we now just learn that we have only 42 folks from a second-rate temp agency hawking the product. I don't know how accurate the post was, but "kevinmik" posted on YMB back in May that Publicis had 89 openings listed for "pharmaceutical territory business manager" for Mannkind. What happened to those? Kevin was wrong (as he often is). The 89 openings included some from companies other than MannKind. |
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Post by madog365 on Nov 18, 2016 15:29:01 GMT -5
I don't know how accurate the post was, but "kevinmik" posted on YMB back in May that Publicis had 89 openings listed for "pharmaceutical territory business manager" for Mannkind. What happened to those? Kevin was wrong (as he often is). The 89 openings included some from companies other than MannKind. Honestly i don't think he was wrong. I do believe there was at some point at least 70 sales reps employed through touch point. At this point i am sure they have fired a bunch of these reps and others have left on their own. If you were a sales rep working on a significant commission compensation and no equity.. you may not be around at the current RX levels either. Keep in mind that Mike is looking to now hire some of these reps directly to mannkind.. they will be able to provide them equity incentives to stick around and weather the storm. |
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Post by nylefty on Nov 18, 2016 17:30:58 GMT -5
Kevin was wrong (as he often is). The 89 openings included some from companies other than MannKind. Honestly i don't think he was wrong. I do believe there was at some point at least 70 sales reps employed through touch point. At this point i am sure they have fired a bunch of these reps and others have left on their own. If you were a sales rep working on a significant commission compensation and no equity.. you may not be around at the current RX levels either. Keep in mind that Mike is looking to now hire some of these reps directly to mannkind.. they will be able to provide them equity incentives to stick around and weather the storm. No, 89 was wrong. He did a search for a job description, not realizing that other companies had posted the same job description. 70 of the listings were from MannKind, not 89. |
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Post by kdaddyfresh2000 on Nov 19, 2016 3:36:52 GMT -5
Honestly i don't think he was wrong. I do believe there was at some point at least 70 sales reps employed through touch point. At this point i am sure they have fired a bunch of these reps and others have left on their own. If you were a sales rep working on a significant commission compensation and no equity.. you may not be around at the current RX levels either. Keep in mind that Mike is looking to now hire some of these reps directly to mannkind.. they will be able to provide them equity incentives to stick around and weather the storm. No, 89 was wrong. He did a search for a job description, not realizing that other companies had posted the same job description. 70 of the listings were from MannKind, not 89. I am still trying to get a better idea of what Mannkind is spending $11 million per month on when they only pay for 42 temps and have paid for zero ads (Buffalo Bills magazine excepted). What takes priority on these two necessities. Part of my question is rhetorical. Part of it is really curious as I read the 10-Q as a non-CPA and it seems to be devoid of detailed explanation. Much insight appreciated. Mannkind reminds me of a government bureaucracy that has taken on a life of its own to self-exist as a first priority for its members and forgotten its mandate for existing. |
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Post by matt on Nov 19, 2016 14:16:20 GMT -5
I am still trying to get a better idea of what Mannkind is spending $11 million per month on when they only pay for 42 temps and have paid for zero ads (Buffalo Bills magazine excepted). OK, some rough math. For the quarter, MNKD reported $44.1 million in expenses, but $22.7 of that was already spent in prior periods. When Sanofi terminated the collaboration, MNKD got to recognize all the deferred revenue, but they also had to recognize the deferred expenses. That was a one time event and it will not reappear so that actual spend for the quarter was more like $21.4 million. There are other cash costs (inventory, receivables, etc.) that impact cash flow but are not expenses. As for the rest, cost of goods (essentially all manufacturing related costs) were $4.3 million. Since Afrezza is selling slowly, manufacturing is not running efficiently as there is some unfavorable manufacturing variance in there (i.e. the same fixed costs spread over fewer units). R&D was $3.9 million. Shareholders can't cheer about the pipeline, Epi, RLS milestones and so on unless R&D spending continues. When R&D spending stops, biotechs die. That leaves $13.1 million for everything else, and the company has said that they are spending an incremental $2 million on sales force expenses. The rest is overhead, office rent, audit fees, utility bills, salaries, benefits, regulatory costs (you want that new label, right), legal fees, travel, consulting, office supplies . . . you can go on. Could it be a different number? Perhaps, but probably not too much lower. |
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Post by kdaddyfresh2000 on Nov 19, 2016 17:03:44 GMT -5
I am still trying to get a better idea of what Mannkind is spending $11 million per month on when they only pay for 42 temps and have paid for zero ads (Buffalo Bills magazine excepted). OK, some rough math. For the quarter, MNKD reported $44.1 million in expenses, but $22.7 of that was already spent in prior periods. When Sanofi terminated the collaboration, MNKD got to recognize all the deferred revenue, but they also had to recognize the deferred expenses. That was a one time event and it will not reappear so that actual spend for the quarter was more like $21.4 million. There are other cash costs (inventory, receivables, etc.) that impact cash flow but are not expenses. As for the rest, cost of goods (essentially all manufacturing related costs) were $4.3 million. Since Afrezza is selling slowly, manufacturing is not running efficiently as there is some unfavorable manufacturing variance in there (i.e. the same fixed costs spread over fewer units). R&D was $3.9 million. Shareholders can't cheer about the pipeline, Epi, RLS milestones and so on unless R&D spending continues. When R&D spending stops, biotechs die. That leaves $13.1 million for everything else, and the company has said that they are spending an incremental $2 million on sales force expenses. The rest is overhead, office rent, audit fees, utility bills, salaries, benefits, regulatory costs (you want that new label, right), legal fees, travel, consulting, office supplies . . . you can go on. Could it be a different number? Perhaps, but probably not too much lower. Thank you. I appreciate the breakdown. I am concerned that while Matt dodged a BK bullet for six months, Mike did not lay out an aggressive way forward to getting the scripts to take off. More of the same for 6 more months will get us nowhere. We will be where we are today . Do you think they can get it done without a dose of hopium? |
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Post by saxcmann on Nov 19, 2016 17:43:12 GMT -5
I count closer to 9 months? Plenty of catalyst besides scripts in 9 months to move the stock price and continue runway for afrezza. Maybe comeback in August for start of bk discussion again.
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Post by nylefty on Nov 19, 2016 21:47:14 GMT -5
Thank you. I appreciate the breakdown. I am concerned that while Matt dodged a BK bullet for six months, Mike did not lay out an aggressive way forward to getting the scripts to take off. More of the same for 6 more months will get us nowhere. We will be where we are today . Do you think they can get it done without a dose of hopium? It won't be "more of the same." Now that the cash situation is much better Mike will be hiring more effective sales reps as employees (rather than temps) and doing much more advertising, including TV. |
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Post by letitride on Nov 20, 2016 10:21:29 GMT -5
Everyone needs to get out there and tell everyone about Afrezza. 9 times out of 10 if you ask someone do you have a family member or close friend with diabetes the answerer is yes if not simply I am. Personally I am betting in the next 3 months I can provide as much awareness as a couple of million dollars worth of TV time accept a hell of a lot more believable. |
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