Net revenue of MannKind Corp.’s flagship drug, Afrezza, jumped 58 percent to $8 million compared to $5.1 million in last year’s first financial quarter, the company said in its earnings report on Wednesday. Michael Castagna, chief executive of the Westlake Village biotech company, attributes the increase to patients stocking up on the inhalable insulin drug while stay-at-home orders remain in place across the country. “In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have rapidly implemented digital tools and programs to help our sales force and our Afrezza prescribers navigate this challenging time for our health care system,” Castagna said in a statement. “In addition, our manufacturing and development team in Connecticut remains focused on maintaining supply of Afrezza and meeting our obligations under our collaboration with United Therapeutics.” MannKind reported a GAAP net loss of $9.3 million (-4 cents a share) for the quarter, a decrease of 37 percent from the net loss of $14.9 million (-8 cents a share) in the same quarter last year. Revenue totaled $16.2 million for the quarter, a 7 percent decrease from last year’s $17.4 million. Analysts on average expected a first quarter net loss of 6 cents a share on revenue of $14.8 million, according to Seeking Alpha. Shares of MannKind (MNKD) closed down 2 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $1.32 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, a day when the Nasdaq was up about half a percentage point.
