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Post by agedhippie on Jul 29, 2024 8:15:36 GMT -5
It's easy to say "be 100% focused on insurance", but without an action plan it's just wasting resources. What do you suggest he does that will get traction with the insurers and avoid this? What I propose is Mike earns his salary. Thats what he is getting paid for. My job with MNKD is to invest and let my voice be heard. ... So, no idea at all how he can achieve it, that's what I expected. I think it's far more productive for Mike to follow things where he can actually move the needle rather than chase rainbows.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 29, 2024 8:10:48 GMT -5
You say "If the results were not good, aren't you going to say he is purposefully using it incorrectly" - How would that be possible? We have ... This is an extended ramble that beautifully illustrates why I would not come within a million miles of this idea. Insulin is a drug that keeps me alive, it's not entertainment (food logs??? daily charts??? WTF )
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 16:25:23 GMT -5
Because the kids trial is going to be outstanding and its the right thing to do for the kids. Mike needs 100% focus on insurance. It's easy to say "be 100% focused on insurance", but without an action plan it's just wasting resources. What do you suggest he does that will get traction with the insurers and avoid this?
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 15:50:14 GMT -5
Willing to be judged by a bunch of anonymous strangers? WTF would I do that? No. Because I was willing to pay for the afrezza myself even if it was $1200 a box. I would say right about now you have ZERO credibility. ... Somehow I will live with the disappointment.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 15:47:44 GMT -5
I’ve been here a long time, rarely post, just like to read people’s opinion here. I’m an investor, unfortunately, although finally in the black with some optimism for what’s ahead. I’ve read many of your posts and always assumed you had used Afrezza. Are you an investor in MNKD? Fine if you’re not, but your interest here is obviously very high and it’s a bit strange for someone if they are not invested. If you’re an investor and a diabetic, how could you not try it in the last 10 years? That’s almost shocking… I have not been invested since I got out just ahead of the reverse split. Since then I have traded, very occasionally buying calls around events and posted here when I have done so. My view after the Sanofi fiasco is that MNKD did not understand how to sell Afrezza, and that seems to have been true given volumes. My view, although it pains me to say it, is that Mike's diversification strategy is the right one and if he can execute on it I may become an investor again and not just a trader. Afrezza doesn't offer me enough to make me change right now, and without the intent to change I am not messing around with my insulin as an experiment - it keeps me alive from hour to hour. Why would I try Afrezza? If I developed absorption issues, or if I developed bad gastroparesis. For me the biggest benefit of Afrezza is predictable absorption, but that's a benefit only a diabetic could love
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 15:19:06 GMT -5
Fundamentally, samples are table stakes. Without samples most endos are going to be reluctant to switch patients, and patients are going to be very reluctant to move. I’d be willing to bet my own ass that with the recent ADA response along with Peds etc, free samples will soon be flooding the offices of many endos. Just a hunch 😁 I seriously hope so. It would be amazingly stupid for them to miss this moment.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 13:06:59 GMT -5
"The problem with trying Afrezza is that it is hard to do. If I want to do that I will need to get a prescription. If I do that the insurance is going to cut off my existing RAA prescription" I don't recall hearing this previously. If I'm understanding this correctly it means free samples could be really really helpful in getting people to switch. Fundamentally, samples are table stakes. Without samples most endos are going to be reluctant to switch patients, and patients are going to be very reluctant to move.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 13:03:13 GMT -5
I’m fine with the mystery as long as agedhippie keeps posting. I am not going anywhere
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 12:58:53 GMT -5
Aged with all the time you have spent posting on this board you could have tried and perfected your Afrezza use and probably also taught at least another 100 other diabetics how to use Afrezza properly. There is obviously something more to your story than you are telling us. Why? As I have said the frequent dosing will not work for me just as Irl Hirsh said it didn't work for some of his patients, and Stevil shared one of his patients who actually got cover for Afrezza and gave it up for that reason. That fact people are unable to accept this answer is their problem rather than mine.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 12:57:40 GMT -5
MNKD makes a point of giving out minimal samples because of cost - it hobbles them in competing with the others but it's their call. I am not going to answer the dosing question because I have done so repeatedly and you just ignore it. I am not sure what you answer. I don't think you answered the question on the challenge. Since Bill/VDex is not getting free samples, assume you will have no cost and the afrezza will be paid for. Are you willing to take the challenge? We post your daily CGM reports on Proboard along with your dosing and food log. The pilot protocol would be up to VDex. If so then its up to VDex to provide the professional services and this would be a great opportunity for Bill to show us how great afrezza is and do a pilot for his study. Can you answer that question? Willing to be judged by a bunch of anonymous strangers? WTF would I do that? No.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 9:29:34 GMT -5
“There’s some background info on the study that I’m missing but can infer from the discussion. Regarding samples, we used to get plenty and a couple years ago it became much more restricted. The liberal use of samples definitely helped. As far as not switching from RAA to Afrezza: the results are essentially comparable. Not true at all. Afrezza is vastly superior. I know that hasn’t been shown in FDA studies but certainly has been in the real world.” ~Bill Samples are key. When I was looking at switching from Toujeo to Tresiba a few years ago my endo gave me a sample pack of Tresiba to try and I switched. So one pen got them years of sales. The risk/reward ratio is insanely good. The problem for Afrezza is that the FDA studies are what most of the medical profession will go with. They are designed to avoid selection bias in the data sets. In the case of Vdex people are motivated to seek out an alternative to their PCP or current endo so they are more inclined to do better.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 9:21:06 GMT -5
How about this for the reason - they intentionally did not follow the instructions they were given knowing it would intentionally increase their A1c? .... At this point I feel contact has been lost with reality. This is well into alternative facts.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 28, 2024 9:16:03 GMT -5
Come on man - just ask VDex for some free samples and some free coaching and agree to post the results right here on Proboards. It could be the "pilot" study for the study VDex said they are doing later this year. IDK but I bet Sports could hook you up. I bet if we took a poll many on this board would like to see this. This one I would like you to prove - "it looks like Afrezza does no better than RAA without a lot more work". How hard is it to take a puff at meals without having to time meals 15 minutes prior? Maybe you need to take another puff 90 minutes later which seems a lot easier than rage bolusing and then take another puff before bed. Thats sounds easier to me but you can prove me wrong. What we do know is in Inhale-3 afrezza kicked butt over the RAA at meals and TIR and A1c when the bed time puff was taken. ... MNKD makes a point of giving out minimal samples because of cost - it hobbles them in competing with the others but it's their call. I am not going to answer the dosing question because I have done so repeatedly and you just ignore it.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 27, 2024 23:04:23 GMT -5
I do find it curious that you are here pontificating everything as being a diabetic and dealing w blood sugar levels and insulin, and reportedly, are a Type 1. You come across as an intelligent person with Type 1, yet you've never tried Afrezza (?). (Is that accurate or did I miss something?) If you haven't tried Afrezza and you are Type 1 and seemingly on a higher IQ than most as you seem to portray, why wouldn't you try Afrezza based on all the evidence before you? Also, your commentary is "mostly" negative w regard to Afrezza. Also, you state, you are basically, a lazy diabetic, unwilling to try to improve your Time In Range and therefore live a healthier, longer life. I went over this here at some length, but I realize now that it was several years ago! So to recap.... The problem with trying Afrezza is that it is hard to do. If I want to do that I will need to get a prescription. If I do that the insurance is going to cut off my existing RAA prescription (you can only have one meal time prescription at a time has been my experience.) If Afrezza doesn't work for me (and it probably won't for the reason you point out - I want to minimize my interaction with insulin) I will then need to get my RAA prescription re-established which insurers make painful. This is the reason why MNKD not giving samples to endos, like every other insulin company out there does, is amazingly dumb - it lets people try without screwing up their prescriptions. My TIR is fine thanks, and since it looks like Afrezza does no better than RAA without a lot more work I doubt it will lead to a healthier, longer life - but who knows. Oddly it is more viable to use Afrezza with an AID pump since you have a prescription both for the pump insulin, and another for pens in case the pump has issues. In that case you could make the secondary insulin Afrezza rather than pens.
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Post by agedhippie on Jul 27, 2024 18:24:21 GMT -5
... I know if I where Mike first thing today I would have called Kevin Sayer and said - I told you so and asked if he is now ready to do some kind of deal. I would also be calling Robert Ford and pushing him to push SoC and Medicare coverage for afrezza. He was banking on icodec too for Libre sales. A joint Abbott/MNKD study comparing afrezza to glp1 use in T2s should be something Robert would now fund since icodec is DOA. Ken Sayer's problem is the reduced price of CGMs sold through pharmacy benefits rather than DME. A lot of Dexcom users are using them because they are integrated into their pumps so those are DME sales and very profitable. The other (and growing) sales are pharmacy and low margin. What Dexcom wants is more DME sales and Afrezza cannot help there. Abbott doesn't care if Iodec is approved or not. Iodec is a replacement for existing basal insulin and since they are already covered there is nothing Afrezza can offer. Both Abbott and Dexcom are going after the OTC market so involving prescription drugs is a drag on that. Medicare does not cover any drug, it says a drug is allowed. The insurer decides if the drug will be covered.
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