Between those inflection points, though, investors need to keep a keen eye on how these companies are spending their cash. Today, let's check in with MannKind , Dynavax Technologies , and Ariad Phameceuticals to see how they are managing their cash.

Tighten up
While MannKind has several products in its pipeline, it has suspended much of the work on these projects in order to make a big push with its inhalable insulin drug, Afrezza. Hopefully this move can accomplish two things: (1) It can help reduce overall expenditures so the company can prolong the lifetime of its cash on hand, and (2) it can focus the company on Afrezza's clinical trials. Results for Afrezza's phase III clinical trials should be ready sometime in August. For the past several conference calls, the company has been saying that it is discussing the possibility of a partner, but according to fellow Fool Max Macaluso, don't expect any news on that front until after the clinical trials.

Perhaps MannKind executives should take cues from some of its peers in the space and do a share issuance large enough to keep the company afloat for more than a couple of months. Last year, the company did issuances in January and October for about $86 million. At the end of the fiscal year 2012, the company has about $61.8 million left in cash on hand. With the company spending on average just under $30 million per quarter, it's only a matter of time before another share issuance.

http://www.wtop.com/247/3240651/3-Biotechs-Still-Burning-Through-Cash