Out with a Bang or whimper?
Heading into trading this morning shares of MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) are down almost 15% over the last 5 trading sessions. Now we wouldn’t call this a free fall but there is no doubt that MannKind stakeholders are feeling just a little uneasy these days. Perhaps the most ominous sign is how people like Ken and Gomer have seemingly abandoned their unwavering pursuit of pumping shares of MannKind.
One has to wonder if Ken and Gomer have already sold their position in MannKind and moved on to another pump and dump. As we noted when this daring duo began pumping MannKind if it turned out they were wrong, and by all indications they are way wrong with this one, they would go silently into the night. Yes there are still MannKind supporters who are out there screaming long and loud that this isn’t over yet that there is still hope and who knows they might be right, all evidence to the contrary.
Truth be told it is still early in the game but the score is starting to get lopsided. Is it possible there could be a dramatic turnaround, that all of sudden Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) will get their act together. Sure and it’s also possible it will snow in July.
There was time long ago in a galaxy far, far away that inhaled insulin had a chance but that day has come and gone. Yes there is a place for Afrezza however that place is not at the grown up table. Should Sanofi remain committed to Afrezza it has a chance to be a niche product in terms of sales. Yet without massive scale it’s unlikely they will ever see much of a profit selling Afrezza. This beginning the case on has to wonder whether they can afford to remain committed to Afrezza.
Remember that Toujeo has been approved and the company has bet the ranch, or should we say wine cellar, on it being a major hit. That they see Toujeo replacing Lantus and saving the diabetes franchise. Now never mind that Toujeo isn’t even on the market yet or that since its approval many besides Diabetic Investor believe that it doesn’t stand much of a chance in the market. The simple fact is Sanofi believes it will be a hit and could well decide to abandon Afrezza and throw their resources towards Toujeo.
When this is all said and done it could well turn out that our wine drinking friends under new leadership may decide that they have had a good run with Lantus and now it’s time to move on. As crazy as this may seem it just might be the best option for incoming CEO Brandicourt. Brandicourt could well decide the best way to go big is to go home. Sell off the diabetes franchise and concentrate on what Sanofi does well, whatever that is.
