Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of drug developer MannKind
So what: MannKind's loss per share was $0.34 for the quarter versus $0.40 last year and the $0.29 that analysts were expecting. Of course for a company like MannKind that's trying to get a major novel drug approved, the current-period loss is not investors' biggest concern. Instead, investors were focused on what the company had to say about its meeting with the Food and Drug Administration about MannKind's Afrezza drug. Unfortunately, the news wasn't what investors were hoping for. There is still a lack of a definite timeline as the company is waiting on more information from the FDA, but it appears that the earliest that Afrezza will be resubmitted for approval will be early 2013.
Now what: It should be no shock that investors are a little antsy here. Afrezza has been turned down twice by the FDA and, based on historical rates of cash burn, the company will have to raise significant new money between now and the next submission. Biopharmaceutical companies are typically among the most speculative stocks, and right now MannKind looks to be at the risky end of that risky group.
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