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Six-to-one fight as City rushes for cannabis
Guardian, The
Friday 22 Jun 2001 Website: http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/guardian/ Six-to-one fight as City rushes for cannabis Andrew Clark City fund managers have displayed a healthy appetite for dope, by stampeding for shares in Britain's only legal cannabis company, GW Pharmaceuticals. The Salisbury company, which is developing a cannabis-based treatment for multiple sclerosis, announced yesterday that its flotation has been over-subscribed by more than six times. Demand has been so strong that GW has made extra shares available, increasing the proceeds of the placing from £16m to £25m. Chairman Geoffrey Guy, whose stake will be worth more than £40m, said: "This is at the top end of our best expectations." GW grows 15 tonnes of cannabis a year, on a secret plantation in southern England. Its annual harvest could attract a street value of £65m, although not all of GW's cannabis is suitable for producing a "high" among users. The business, which is backed by the former GEC chairman Lord Weinstock, has attracted a valuation of £175m. It is carrying out clinical trials for a multiple sclerosis treatment, and has earlier-stage cannabis products for cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. The government has pledged to permit the use of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals, as long as they are approved by the medicines control agency. Analysts believe the market could be enormous. Julie Simmonds, an analyst at Beeson Gregory, said: "We can assume that it probably works." Proceeds from the flotation will fund larger scale plantations, clinical trials and expansion into Europe and North America.
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