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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 17:46:47 GMT -5
The solution to MannKind's woes is sales of Afrezza. To date there seems to be no strategy that has worked. Mike Castagna, the new CEO, may be enthusiastic, but that alone will not sell Afrezza. The elephant in the room is the refills and the company is virtually silent on why this issue exists. Is it cost? Is it education? Is it efficacy? Is it consistency? Is it side effects and adverse events? Is it a lack of a marketing budget? In my opinion it is a bit of all of these things, and the street will not appreciate continued dances around correcting this issue head on. Whether or not Castagna can be the type of CEO to correct this matter can be debated. What can not be debated is that the solution has evaded everyone thus far.
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Post by akemp3000 on Jun 23, 2017 18:04:45 GMT -5
I never read Spencer's negative perspectives anymore as he doesn't deserve the click nickel but decided to read it today just to see if he had a new fair, honest and non-biased perspective. What was I thinking? When I read the above, the answer is obviously no. Sales ARE beginning to climb and there is NO elephant in the room with silence. Mannkind management has gone into very specific detail about the reasons for challenges with refills and they are being addressed. For him to suggest otherwise means he has either not done his homework or is dishonest. In either case, I'll not read another article with his name on it.
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Post by sayhey24 on Jun 23, 2017 19:26:37 GMT -5
Pretty simple the number 1 issue was insurance. The second was not proper titration and under dosing. Gary Scheiner's findings were the 4/8/12 units equated to about 2/4/6 of his RAA. If Gary is even close to right think about how bad the PWDs and Endos thought it was working.
I think both have been addressed and we are starting to see better refill rates. The remaining issue is overall cost. MNKD should be selling it for $50 a box and saturate the market. Then its getting the word out in a big way.
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Post by mnholdem on Jun 23, 2017 19:58:02 GMT -5
One BIG issue that hasn't been resolved. Unit-for-Unit pricing has Afrezza slightly higher than the RAA brands. But since your dosage would be roughly 2:1 with Afrezza vs RAA, it simply puts Afrezza into a Premium price range that insurers are not willing to pay. If you add correction doses to manage your Time-In-Range, the monthly price to insurers and patients (since most people have higher deductible plans these days) is, in my opinion, what has been holding Afrezza back from being accepted. I believe that the premium pricing is the number one factor behind the inexplicable refill rates. Doctor after Doctor is saying the same thing to their patients and to other doctors: Afrezza inhaled insulin costs way too much. I understand that the benefits of being able to manage your BG levels at an unprecedented level of control equates to long-term health benefits. I also understand that the huge benefit in life style changes, coupled with the previous benefit, may justify the premium. Unfortunately, insurers don't see it that way and most patients simply cannot fork over that much out of pocket expense. It's a sad state of of mind that has dominated management's thinking for far too long. First impressions are crucial to new drug launches and when MannKind launches its consumer marketing campaign, if they don't get the pricing right, they'll have missed a golden opportunity to propel Afrezza as an elite insulin at an affordable price. Sanofi set the price of Afrezza higher than RAA brands because they knew they and the other big pharmaceutical were about to enact a massive price increase for their RAA insulin brands. I fear that MannKind's management was blinded by greed after Afrezza was returned to them and they currently want to capitalize on the current market's high insulin prices. "Better AND more affordable" is the message that is needed today to make Afrezza into a blockbuster tomorrow. I fail to understand why they don't get this. At a time when competitors are raising prices, what a powerful message you could send by announcing that you are lowering your price. If you want to be greedy, then raise your price later, after Afrezza is dominating the prandial market. To maintain their current per unit premium prices is utter nonsense at this stage of the Afrezza life cycle. Just my opinion. I continue to root for Afrezza to become successful. OneDrop has the right idea. I hope the new CEO of MannKind follows suit with a similar pricing strategy. BTW, I don't read Spencer's articles, so my opinion should not be interpreted as supportive of his viewpoints which, as I understand it from members posts, focuses primarily on MannKind's finances. Perhaps another thread may have been a better place to post my viewpoint, but here it stays. K? Good fortune all.  |
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Post by centralcoastinvestor on Jun 23, 2017 20:17:17 GMT -5
One BIG issue that hasn't been resolved. Unit-for-Unit pricing has Afrezza slightly higher than the RAA brands. But since your dosage would be roughly 2:1 with Afrezza vs RAA, it simply puts Afrezza into a Premium price range that insurers are not willing to pay. If you add correction does to manage your Time-In-Range, the monthly price to insurers and patients (since most people have higher deductible plans these days) is, in my opinion, what has been holding Afrezza back from being accepted. I believe that the premium pricing is the number one factor behind the inexplicable refill rates. Doctor after Doctor is saying the same thing to their patients and to other doctors: Afrezza inhaled insulin costs way too much. I understand that the benefits of being able to manage your BG levels at an unprecedented level of control equates to long-term health benefits. I also understand that the huge benefit in life style changes, coupled with the previous benefit, may justify the premium. Unfortunately, insurers don't see it that way and most patients simply cannot fork over that much out of pocket expense. It's a sad state of of mind that has dominated management's thinking for far too long. First impressions are crucial to new drug launches and when MannKind launches its consumer marketing campaign, if they don't get the pricing right, they'll have missed a golden opportunity to propel Afrezza as an elite insulin at an affordable price. Sanofi set the price of Afrezza higher than RAA brands because they new they and the other big pharmaceutical were about to enact a massive price increase for their RAA insulin brands. I fear that MannKind's management was blinded by greed after Afrezza was returned to them and they currently want to capitalize on the current market's high insulin prices. "Better AND more affordable" is the message that is needed today to make Afrezza into a blockbuster tomorrow. I fail to understand why they don't get this. At a time when competitors are raising prices, what a powerful message you could send by announcing that you are lowering your price. If you want to be greedy, then raise your price later, after Afrezza is dominating the prandial market. To maintain their current per unit premium prices is utter nonsense at this stage of the Afrezza life cycle. Just my opinion. I continue to root for Afrezza to become successful. OneDrop has the right idea. I hope the new CEO of MannKind follows suit with a similar pricing strategy. BTW, I don't read Spencer's articles, so my opinion should not be interpreted as supportive of his viewpoints which, as I understand it from members posts, focuses primarily on MannKind's finances. Perhaps another thread may have been a better place to post my viewpoint, but here it stays. K? Good fortune all. mnholdem, you should package what you wrote above into a letter to Mike Castagna and request a reply. I would love to know what his answer would be. |
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Post by hillsave on Jun 23, 2017 20:37:07 GMT -5
One BIG issue that hasn't been resolved. Unit-for-Unit pricing has Afrezza slightly higher than the RAA brands. But since your dosage would be roughly 2:1 with Afrezza vs RAA, it simply puts Afrezza into a Premium price range that insurers are not willing to pay. If you add correction does to manage your Time-In-Range, the monthly price to insurers and patients (since most people have higher deductible plans these days) is, in my opinion, what has been holding Afrezza back from being accepted. I believe that the premium pricing is the number one factor behind the inexplicable refill rates. Doctor after Doctor is saying the same thing to their patients and to other doctors: Afrezza inhaled insulin costs way too much. I understand that the benefits of being able to manage your BG levels at an unprecedented level of control equates to long-term health benefits. I also understand that the huge benefit in life style changes, coupled with the previous benefit, may justify the premium. Unfortunately, insurers don't see it that way and most patients simply cannot fork over that much out of pocket expense. It's a sad state of of mind that has dominated management's thinking for far too long. First impressions are crucial to new drug launches and when MannKind launches its consumer marketing campaign, if they don't get the pricing right, they'll have missed a golden opportunity to propel Afrezza as an elite insulin at an affordable price. Sanofi set the price of Afrezza higher than RAA brands because they new they and the other big pharmaceutical were about to enact a massive price increase for their RAA insulin brands. I fear that MannKind's management was blinded by greed after Afrezza was returned to them and they currently want to capitalize on the current market's high insulin prices. "Better AND more affordable" is the message that is needed today to make Afrezza into a blockbuster tomorrow. I fail to understand why they don't get this. At a time when competitors are raising prices, what a powerful message you could send by announcing that you are lowering your price. If you want to be greedy, then raise your price later, after Afrezza is dominating the prandial market. To maintain their current per unit premium prices is utter nonsense at this stage of the Afrezza life cycle. Just my opinion. I continue to root for Afrezza to become successful. OneDrop has the right idea. I hope the new CEO of MannKind follows suit with a similar pricing strategy. BTW, I don't read Spencer's articles, so my opinion should not be interpreted as supportive of his viewpoints which, as I understand it from members posts, focuses primarily on MannKind's finances. Perhaps another thread may have been a better place to post my viewpoint, but here it stays. K? Good fortune all. I have been using Afrezza for almost 28 months. I get and use 3 boxes of 4/8 u every 3 months. I have T2 D and Afrezza costs me $10 per month with my insurance and the copay card. My A1C as of May 27 was 5.4. You don't get much better than that. |
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Post by mnholdem on Jun 23, 2017 21:10:02 GMT -5
Yes. You are very fortunate. My company deductible is $4,000 / $8,000 for single / family. I have to pay the deductible before our insurer will cover 80/20...that is if they would cover Afrezza, which they won't. I think it's possible that more and more people are in my situation than yours in the USA. Even government employees are now having to pay higher premium - multiple strikes have occurred by state employees here in Minnesota over the past six years.
Health premiums are the 2nd largest indirect expense in many companies. They simply feel they have no choice but to make their employees pay a bigger percentage of the premiums or they lower those premiums with high-deductible health plans. That's just the way it is.
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Post by porkini on Jun 23, 2017 21:39:31 GMT -5
I never read Spencer's negative perspectives anymore as he doesn't deserve the click nickel but decided to read it today just to see if he had a new fair, honest and non-biased perspective. What was I thinking? When I read the above, the answer is obviously no. Sales ARE beginning to climb and there is NO elephant in the room with silence. Mannkind management has gone into very specific detail about the reasons for challenges with refills and they are being addressed. For him to suggest otherwise means he has either not done his homework or is dishonest. In either case, I'll not read another article with his name on it. Lol, same here, I looked at this one because I wanted to see what kind of spin would be there after today's script numbers. I stopped reading his repetitive narratives long ago as they seemed mostly recycled. Now I just throw the BS flag when I see a SA article from this author. In this author's case, I believe he could stick to just putting up data, charts, and graphs and let readers supply their own narrative as his does little for meaningful illumination of what is going on that most of us don't even know about day to day. I know there is always the disclaimer that the author has no financial interest in the stock, but there is no apparent obligation for the author to disclose if there is an interest in a competitive product or has placed a bet against the investment they write about either. |
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Post by sayhey24 on Jun 24, 2017 8:20:05 GMT -5
One BIG issue that hasn't been resolved. Unit-for-Unit pricing has Afrezza slightly higher than the RAA brands. But since your dosage would be roughly 2:1 with Afrezza vs RAA, it simply puts Afrezza into a Premium price range that insurers are not willing to pay. If you add correction does to manage your Time-In-Range, the monthly price to insurers and patients (since most people have higher deductible plans these days) is, in my opinion, what has been holding Afrezza back from being accepted. I believe that the premium pricing is the number one factor behind the inexplicable refill rates. Doctor after Doctor is saying the same thing to their patients and to other doctors: Afrezza inhaled insulin costs way too much. I understand that the benefits of being able to manage your BG levels at an unprecedented level of control equates to long-term health benefits. I also understand that the huge benefit in life style changes, coupled with the previous benefit, may justify the premium. Unfortunately, insurers don't see it that way and most patients simply cannot fork over that much out of pocket expense. It's a sad state of of mind that has dominated management's thinking for far too long. First impressions are crucial to new drug launches and when MannKind launches its consumer marketing campaign, if they don't get the pricing right, they'll have missed a golden opportunity to propel Afrezza as an elite insulin at an affordable price. Sanofi set the price of Afrezza higher than RAA brands because they new they and the other big pharmaceutical were about to enact a massive price increase for their RAA insulin brands. I fear that MannKind's management was blinded by greed after Afrezza was returned to them and they currently want to capitalize on the current market's high insulin prices. "Better AND more affordable" is the message that is needed today to make Afrezza into a blockbuster tomorrow. I fail to understand why they don't get this. At a time when competitors are raising prices, what a powerful message you could send by announcing that you are lowering your price. If you want to be greedy, then raise your price later, after Afrezza is dominating the prandial market. To maintain their current per unit premium prices is utter nonsense at this stage of the Afrezza life cycle. Just my opinion. I continue to root for Afrezza to become successful. OneDrop has the right idea. I hope the new CEO of MannKind follows suit with a similar pricing strategy. BTW, I don't read Spencer's articles, so my opinion should not be interpreted as supportive of his viewpoints which, as I understand it from members posts, focuses primarily on MannKind's finances. Perhaps another thread may have been a better place to post my viewpoint, but here it stays. K? Good fortune all. I have been using Afrezza for almost 28 months. I get and use 3 boxes of 4/8 u every 3 months. I have T2 D and Afrezza costs me $10 per month with my insurance and the copay card. My A1C as of May 27 was 5.4. You don't get much better than that. That is awesome. Your results should be able to be reproduced over and over in T2s. afrezza should be frontline treatment for all T2s as Dr Bode said last month. In fact there should be a study started to track people like you vs metformin users and track your decline vs theirs. In addition to OneDrop, Onduo is moving in the same direction. Originally they thought proper modeling was going to be very difficult. What they did not expect was how predictable afrezza is. With injections there are different factors including the analog molecules reaction in different people and hydration level for absorption. It was interesting to now see the word simple being used as its really a matter of simple modeling and real time BG monitoring - "developing comprehensive solutions that combine devices, software, medicine and professional care to enable simple and intelligent disease management." verily.com/projects/population-health/onduo/ |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2017 10:57:47 GMT -5
Yes. You are very fortunate. My company deductible is $4,000 / $8,000 for single / family. I have to pay the deductible before our insurer will cover 80/20...that is if they would cover Afrezza, which they won't. I think it's possible that more and more people are in my situation than yours in the USA. Even government employees are now having to pay higher premium - multiple strikes have occurred by state employees here in Minnesota over the past six years. Health premiums are the 2nd largest indirect expense in many companies. They simply feel they have no choice but to make their employees pay a bigger percentage of the premiums or they lower those premiums with high-deductible health plans. That's just the way it is. Christ that is terrible. Here I complain about my families $2500 deductible. |
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Post by sportsrancho on Jun 24, 2017 11:30:50 GMT -5
Yes. You are very fortunate. My company deductible is $4,000 / $8,000 for single / family. I have to pay the deductible before our insurer will cover 80/20...that is if they would cover Afrezza, which they won't. I think it's possible that more and more people are in my situation than yours in the USA. Even government employees are now having to pay higher premium - multiple strikes have occurred by state employees here in Minnesota over the past six years. Health premiums are the 2nd largest indirect expense in many companies. They simply feel they have no choice but to make their employees pay a bigger percentage of the premiums or they lower those premiums with high-deductible health plans. That's just the way it is. Christ that is terrible. Here I complain about my families $2500 deductible. If I had insurance, which I don't because of the cost. It would be 1,200 per month and a 10,000 deductible. ( Obamacare ) Which is imploding as we speak. Before my plan got canceled ( because of Obamcare ) I paid $300 per month for hospital and doctor care. Pre and post visits. And the deductible was 3,500. ( No prescription coverage.) |
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Post by alethea on Jun 24, 2017 11:49:37 GMT -5
I have purchased 9 boxes of Afrezza since July, 2015. The first seven cost me 300.99 - Out of Pocket - NOT covered at all by my insurance. Two months ago the same box cost 350.23. Just three days ago the next box cost 385.14.  I'm Type 2, quite insulin resistant. Ideally I would need AT LEAST two boxes per month, $770 out of pocket PER MONTH. As is, I can only afford to take one inhalation per day when I need it most. It is OUTRAGEOUSLY priced - what about Al's dream to help Mankind with its diabetes problem? It is foolish, stupid, short-sighted and counterproductive to think most/many insurance companies will pay double the price of injectable insulin. Yes there are a few who are wonderfully covered by insurance (like Sam, aka AfrezzaUser). And even if Sam et al pays only 10 per month copay, who do you think is paying the rest of the nearly $1,000 per month for his insulin? Answer: everyone else via ever increasing premiums. Open your eyes and ears Mannkind management if you want to sell Afrezza in any appreciable volume. It is priced WAY TOO F&%KING HIGH! Idiots. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2017 12:08:45 GMT -5
@sportsrancho Nearly everyone that pays for healthcare will be screwed more-so later this year.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2017 12:09:40 GMT -5
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Post by sportsrancho on Jun 24, 2017 12:17:58 GMT -5
@sportsrancho Nearly everyone that pays for healthcare will be screwed more-so later this year. Yep, no one will vote for the new one because it seems to suck also. And the old one will die a sure death. |
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