MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) and Sanofi SA ADR (NYSE: SNY) are poised to launch a new form of fast acting insulin called Afrezza as early as in the first quarter of 2015, which exhibits similar kinetics to healthy pancreas. By leveraging on the company's novel Technosphere powder drugs delivery platform, prandial (mealtime) insulin is rapidly delivers through the small and inconspicuous reusable DreamBoat or the disposable Crickets inhalers; however, the market has not forget the disappointment with another inhale insulin, Exubera. Developed and commercialized by the collaborative efforts of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Exubera was approved by the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) in 2006. Nearly a year into launch, Pfizer pulled Exubera off the market due to poor sales and took a loss of more than $2 billion. However, Exubera is highly safe and efficacious; and the cases of cancers found in ex-smokers treated with Exubera were due to tobacco abuse, which is a "confounder" or an unaccounted variable that can bias a study's results.

People commonly referred to Exubera as "the bong," said Elam Nevan who led Pfizer's pulmonary division that commercialized Exubera, in an investor meeting at the Chamberlain Steakhouse in Dallas, Texas on July 2014. According to Mr. Nevan, Exubera still recognized $200 million for the partnership despite of the drug's failure. Mr. Nevan is a charismatic Harvard lawyer and an entrepreneur, who recently started another insulin company called Antria Biosciences (OTCMKTS: ANTB) that develops a once weekly basal insulin injection. When he was still working at Pfizer, Mr. Nevan was disappointed as his former colleagues left the Nektar in the midst of Exubera's flop to join MannKind Corporation.

Short sellers believe that Afrezza will fail due to physicians' previous disappointment with Exubera while shareholders believe that the drug will generate blockbuster sales. Nonetheless, there is an overlooked common ground that both sides can agree on. In other words, past failures often lead to future successes and the sciences of inhale medicine discovered at Nektar Therapeutics contributed, at least certain degrees, toward the development of Afrezza. However, it is also true that prior development tend to be lacking in superior qualities of later advancement.

Read more on this report at Retail Investor 360.