What: Shares of MannKind (MNKD 0.72%), the biotechnology company behind the inhaled insulin Afrezza, are being pummeled today, down around 10% in early morning trading on very heavy volume after the company reported its third quarter results.
So what: The inhaled insulin specialist had little good news to share with its investors, but that wasn't new information as MannKind's marketing partner Sanofi (SNY -2.27%) already let us know that Afrezza had another disappointing quarter. During the period MannKind booked total product shipments of $4.1 million, though its sell through to actual users of the product as reported by Sanofi was roughly $2.2 million, which was completely flat from the previous quarter.
MannKind's portion of the two companies' loss sharing agreement came in at $14.7 million for the period, all of which was added to its running tab that it has with Sanofi, which now totals $43.7 million. While MannKind did cut its expenses across the board, net loss for the period was still a heavy $31.9 million, or $0.08 per share, which came in a penny worse than expectations.
The primary thing that matters to investors now is the company's capital position. While the company is making a few moves to stay afloat, the situation is not looking good. The company currently has $32.9 million in cash on its books, down from $107 million last year, but the company can also borrow another $30.1 million from the Mann Group and can also sell up to $37.5 million of its common stock using its at-the-market sales program if it needs to.
To bolster its cash position further, MannKind announced that it is listing its shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Israel. This move will essentially force index funds in the country to purchase up to 50 million shares of MannKind's stock, and the company will be selling the majority of its shares directly, which should also bring in some additional capital. When adding up all of these financing methods, the company believes that it will be able to fund its operations into 2017.
Now what: There is very little positive news for MannKind's long-term investors to take away from this report. Despite its huge promise, Afrezza is simply failing to gain traction in the market, and while MannKind is certainly pulling out all the stops to keep its doors open, these financial moves are really only band-aids. The only hope here is for Afrezza sales to take off fast, and with each passing quarter that looks increasingly less likely.
In January, Sanofi has the option to officially pull the plug on Afrezza, and given how the launch is going that continues to grow more and more likely. MannKind certainly isn't in a financial position to commercialize Afrezza itself, so this situation is looking bleak.
And yet, despite everything that is going on, MannKind still boasts a market cap of nearly a billion dollars, so even after today's drubbing, there still could be downside left in the shares. For that reason, it's probably best to watch this slow moving train wreck from the sidelines.
