MannKind Corp. announced Friday that it has entered into a collaborative contract with New York-based JDRF, a nonprofit formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The Valencia biotech that sells its inhalable insulin called Afrezza, the company’s only commercial product, and the diabetes research organization will work together to determine if Afrezza can be used in children’s medicine as well as advance new treatments in diabetes care. “We are excited to be working with JDRF and the leading scientific experts, community physicians and people with diabetes that are associated with this organization,” MannKind’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ray Urbanski said in a statement. “We have already begun to evaluate Afrezza for use in the pediatric population and we look forward to working with JDRF to advance our mutual interests in advancing therapies for all patients with type 1 diabetes.” Shares closed down 2 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $1.01on the Nasdaq.
