MannKind Keeps the Faith in Inhaled Insulin with Opening of $114 Million Production Plant in Connecticut

---

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) (Valencia, California) will unveil its new $114 million insulin system production plant in Danbury, Connecticut, today. Construction began last year on the project, which will produce, package and distribute the company's Technosphere insulin and inhaler.

MannKind, founded in 1991 by billionaire Alfred Mann, has firmly stayed the course with its development of the controversial product, navigating past a lawsuit over allegedly sketchy research and the fact that other companies have pulled the plug on their own versions of inhaled insulin.

Earlier this year, Eli Lilly & Company (NYSE:LLY) (Indianapolis, Indiana), Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) (Bagsvaerd, Denmark) and Pfizer Incorporated (NYSE:PFE) (New York, New York) all abandoned similar products that were designed to replace injections for those suffering from diabetes. These companies' withdrawals from the product represent a complete turnaround from the situation in 2005, when MannKind first announced its work on Technosphere at a major diabetes conference. At that time, many industry insiders believed the company was simply too late with its development and that it would be soundly trounced in a race against Big Pharma to snag a piece of the $21 billion market.

In the Technosphere insulin system, insulin molecules are loaded onto the company's proprietary Technosphere particles. These loaded particles are then aerosolized and inhaled as a dry powder into the deep lung using the company's proprietary inhaler. Because of its rapid absorption into the bloodstream, MannKind believes the system will eventually become the preferred method for those requiring insulin as opposed to injections.

It is a big market with projections calling for double-digit growth through 2012, when an estimated 380 million worldwide are expected to be afflicted with diabetes. If the company is correct in its belief, the payoff will be well worth the nearly $1 billion it has invested in Technosphere's development.

Torcon Construction (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) handled construction of the plant. CRB Consulting Engineers (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania) provided design and engineering of the 140,000-square-foot addition. As part of our Pharmaceutical Tracker, Industrial Info monitors over 2,200 operational pharmaceutical and biotech plants, with approximately 220 plants in various stages of development.

View Plant Report - 1068827
View Project Report - 36000464

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.