MannKind Afresa Partnership (NASDAQ:MNKD)

On an early Tuesday afternoon, MannKind Corporation announced that they do not expect to find any marketing partner for their inhaled insulin drug candidate Afresa in 2009. The news from MannKind Corporation quickly brought down their shares 31 percent.

In a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, MannKind said that they have come to a conclusion that it would be better to complete the partnership deal after the Food and Drug Administration rules on Afresa which will happen in January 2010. The company said that they have made a substantial progress towards an agreement with a potential partner and that both the companies believe that it would be better to make a deal only after FDA provides their response.

In March 2009, MannKind had submitted their NDA for Afresa Inhalation Powder and Afresa Inhaler which will be used for the treatment of adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus for the control of hyperglycemia.

Shares of MannKind went down around 24 percent at $7 in the morning trading and finally touched the low at $6.31 at the end of the day. About 9.5 million shares changed hands shortly after noon, while around 944,000 shares traded on an average in the entire day.