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Canada has opened its doors to a company that develops cannabis-based medicines which was knocked back for more tests in the UK.
GW Pharmaceuticals celebrated the major landmark of a country giving preliminary approval for its Savitex mouth spray.
The spray could be available on prescription to multiple sclerosis sufferers in the next few months, sending shares in the company up nine per cent.
It will be the first cannabis- based treatment to receive approval anywhere in the world.
The news will be particularly welcome since it comes just two weeks after UK regulators demanded further testing of the drug, causing shares to plunge by a quarter.
GW, which grows cannabis plants at a secret location in the UK, is appealing against the decision.
Chairman Geoffrey Guy said today: "This approval will be a major milestone for GW and for people with multiple sclerosis who have long awaited a prescription cannabis-based medicine for the treatment of neuropathic pain."
Sativex is a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol.
Trials have shown it is also effective in treating patients with arthritis.
The company, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, will now have to complete routine paperwork before Sativex can be prescribed in Canada. It will also have to agree to carry out further tests after the drug's release.
German drugs group Bayer Healthcare will exclusively market the medicine once it gains final approval.
GW said it would apply for permission to use Sativex for other conditions in Canada.
Around 50,000 people in Canada are diagnosed with MS and 85,000 in the UK.
More than 70 per cent of sufferers questioned in a study in Canada a couple of years ago said their current medication was inadequate. Many patients already smoke cannabis to relieve their symptoms.
GW has only applied to the authorities in the UK and Canada for approval of Sativex. Shares rose eight pence to 113p today.
https://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/...aple_leaf_gives_nod_to_cannabis_medicine.html
GW Pharmaceuticals celebrated the major landmark of a country giving preliminary approval for its Savitex mouth spray.
The spray could be available on prescription to multiple sclerosis sufferers in the next few months, sending shares in the company up nine per cent.
It will be the first cannabis- based treatment to receive approval anywhere in the world.
The news will be particularly welcome since it comes just two weeks after UK regulators demanded further testing of the drug, causing shares to plunge by a quarter.
GW, which grows cannabis plants at a secret location in the UK, is appealing against the decision.
Chairman Geoffrey Guy said today: "This approval will be a major milestone for GW and for people with multiple sclerosis who have long awaited a prescription cannabis-based medicine for the treatment of neuropathic pain."
Sativex is a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol.
Trials have shown it is also effective in treating patients with arthritis.
The company, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, will now have to complete routine paperwork before Sativex can be prescribed in Canada. It will also have to agree to carry out further tests after the drug's release.
German drugs group Bayer Healthcare will exclusively market the medicine once it gains final approval.
GW said it would apply for permission to use Sativex for other conditions in Canada.
Around 50,000 people in Canada are diagnosed with MS and 85,000 in the UK.
More than 70 per cent of sufferers questioned in a study in Canada a couple of years ago said their current medication was inadequate. Many patients already smoke cannabis to relieve their symptoms.
GW has only applied to the authorities in the UK and Canada for approval of Sativex. Shares rose eight pence to 113p today.
https://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/...aple_leaf_gives_nod_to_cannabis_medicine.html
