What happened
Shares of MannKind Corporation (MNKD -0.72%), a biotech company that specializes in finding therapies for endocrine and orphan lung diseases, rose 10.4% on Monday. The stock closed at $3.45 on Friday and opened at that price on Monday. A little after 11 a.m., the stock reached its day's high of $3.81. It has a 52-week low of $2.49 and a 52-week high of $5.44.
So what
The stock moved on the news regarding a study on Yutrepia, an inhalation powder form of treprostinil being developed by Liquidia (LQDA -1.93%). It's a competitor to MannKind's newly approved pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) therapy associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD), Tyvaso DPI (treprostinil), which MannKind developed in collaboration with United Therapeutics (UTHR 1.07%). Liquidia said users preferred using Yutrepia to Tyvaso, although the frequency of mild side effects from Yutrepia was higher.
It's also worth noting that Yutrepia cannot be marketed in the United States because of an ongoing lawsuit by United Therapeutics against Liquidia. The lawsuit accuses Liquidia of infringement of three patents related to Tyvaso, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in May.
Now what
With a relatively low stock price, it isn't unusual to see volatility in the pharmaceutical stock.
Tyvaso DPI is MannKind's second marketed drug, so it will be interesting to see how well it does in the marketplace. For now, it is the only approved dry-powder inhaled treatment for PAH patients with PH-ILD. The company lost $26 million, or $0.10 per share, in the first quarter. But its revenue for its other approved drug, Afrezza, a man-made form of inhaled insulin, was $9.8 million, up 21% over the same period last year. With a second drug on the market, the company may be about to turn the corner to profitability.
