MannKind (MNKD) shares surged as much as 9% in early trading Monday after the company reported its fiscal second quarter results. The biopharmaceutical firm posted a net loss of $28.9 million or 7 cents per share, better than the Wall Street consensus of 8 cents a share in Q2 losses. MannKind had incurred a loss of $73.4 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter a year ago.

MannKind witnesses steep decline in expenses

During the April-June quarter, the Valencia, California company shipped $5.9 million worth of its flagship drug Afrezza. However, the company recorded it as deferred product sales rather than recognizing revenue in Q2. The company had $7.1 million in deferred product sales during the first quarter of this year. In late July, MannKind's marketing partner Sanofi reported that Afrezza brought in only $2.2 million in Q2 revenue.

MannKind's portion of the loss-sharing deal with Sanofi related to Afrezza was $12.8 million for the latest quarter. The company witnessed a steep decline in operation expenses, which helped it narrow the losses. MannKind's operating expenses were $24.1 million in the latest quarter, down 65.5% from $69.8 million in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The company attributed the decline in expenses to Afrezza having moved out of clinical development phase to the commercial market. R&D expenses also fell 79.4% from $37.7 million to $7.7 million. Meanwhile, general and administrative expenses were down 67.4% from $32.5 million to $10.6 million, thanks to a decline in non-cash stock compensation expenses.

MannKind appoints Dr. Raymond Urbanski as its CMO

MannKind ended the June quarter with $107.2 million in cash and cash equivalent, down from $120.8 million in the March quarter. The company also announced that it had appointed Dr. Raymond Urbanski as its new Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Urbanski will oversee MannKind's drug development activities. He has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical research & development.