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UK: Cannabis-based medicine given backing to treat MS patients

James Meikle

The Guardian

Wednesday 16 Nov 2005

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Patients in Britain will soon be able to obtain an unlicensed,
cannabis-based medicine on prescription to treat multiple sclerosis and
possibly rheumatoid arthritis. The Home Office has allowed the mouthspray
drug to be imported for individual patients in exceptional cases, provided
their clinician believes they will benefit.

Local health trusts will also have to agree to pay for the UKP4-a-day
medicine before any patient can be treated on the NHS. The decision is the
second example within weeks of patient power forcing authorities to allow
wider access to unlicensed drugs - use of Herceptin for early stage breast
cancer was the first - raising questions about how far politicians will
allow the boundaries to be pushed over safety and efficacy rules.

Hundreds of patients involved in trials are already allowed to remain on
the drug on compassionate grounds. It is unclear how many of the estimated
85,000 MS patients might benefit, although some are thought to take
cannabis illegally to relieve their symptoms.

The drug, Sativex, is made by GW Pharmaceuticals from a combination of
plant extracts using nearly equal measures of tetrahydrocannibol (THC) and
cannabidiol, also present in cannabis. The Home Office sanctioned imports
from Canada.

GW Pharmaceuticals is seeking a licence in Britain to use the drug to treat
spasticity - painful stiffness linked to MS - but regulators want more
proof that it works. Further trial results are expected next year. There
have been what the company calls encouraging results in patients with
rheumatoid arthritis, which affects about 600,000 people. But consideration
for this use remains some time away.

Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, said:
"Many people ... will now have the opportunity to try a new drug which
could significantly improve their quality of life. We very much hope it
will not be long before it is licensed for NHS prescription."

 

 

 

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