MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) Just Supercharged Its Afrezza Strategy

When we last looked at MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) back at the end of May, the company was trading for around $1.50 a share.In and around that time, a number of analysts and financial media outlets had written the company off as doomed to fail in its rehashed efforts to commercialize its inhalable insulin asset, Afrezza. MNKD Daily ChartWe recognized the concerns of the aforementioned, but we also suggested that the asset was far from dead in the water and that, subject to a couple of minor alterations to the rollout strategy, it could have a real chance of success in the US market.During the months subsequent to our coverage, sales have picked up and, in line with increased revenues, the company's share price has appreciated steadily. This week, however, markets got a major update on one element of the rollout that we previously highlighted as being key to our expectations for Afrezza's success – labeling.For those new to this asset, Afrezza is, as mentioned, an inhalable insulin product and it is designed to help patients with diabetes control glucose levels in and around mealtimes. It's very fast acting (more so than any of the currently available alternatives) and it clears out of the body extremely quickly. These two points, fast onset action and rapid clearance, are key unique selling points and are what is, long term, going to persuade diabetes sufferers to use Afrezza as opposed to injection based alternatives.Until now, however, MannKind hasn't been able to highlight any of these points in its sales pitch.As pointed out in the past, this is analogous to the company having one hand tied behind its back when it's trying to get physicians to prescribe or recommend this sort of asset and, in turn, physicians not being able to explain to patients why Afrezza is a best in class option.The latest news details the fact that the company is now able to alter Afrezza's labeling to reflect the advantages outlined above and, in line with this alteration, can discuss these advantages when it's trying to sell the drug to physicians and patients.Specifically, the company will be able to show that the 4 and 12 unit cartridges of Afrezza have a first measurable effect after 12 minutes, peak after 35 to 45 minutes, and then returns to baseline after approximately 1.5 to 3 hours.That's a major step forward from the previous labeling, which basically compared it to currently available alternatives meaning that the company had to rely on the administration method as the USP.The implications of this are that we should see a strong uptick in sales of Afrezza starting during the final quarter of this year and into 2018 and beyond.Management also announced this week that MannKind has been able to exchange 1.3 million shares of its common stock for a bunch of outstanding Series A and Series B stock purchase warrants that were issued in May 2016, which in turn means it can access the full $50 million of its at-the-market facility.The bottom line here, then, is that over the last couple of days, the sales strategy for Afrezza has been supercharged. The asset itself is now labeled to identify why patients might want to use this drug over currently available options and the company has access to tens of millions of dollars that can be used to drive home the fresh advantage.Sure, MannKind isn't out of the woods yet and there is still plenty of sales pitching to do before markets will view Afrezza as a success, but this is a major milestone and one that is driving price up now for good reason but that can also serve to drive further upside revaluation long-term.Read our previous coverage of MannKind here. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on MNKD, sign up below!Image courtesy of Alisha Vargas via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in MNKD and have not been compensated for this article.