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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: GW hits a high with upbeat results
citywire.co.uk
Tuesday 11 Sep 2001 GW Pharmaceuticals has issued an upbeat progress report on the progress of its cannabis-based medicines, but one high profile investor has reduced his stake in the company, writes Ed Bowsher. Colin Blackbourn, the small cap stockbroker known as the Black Prince, invested in GW Pharma (GWP) before its successful float this summer. But Citywire can reveal that he has sold down some of his stake since then, although it's understood that he retains a significant holding. But Blackbourn isn't the only interesting name with a stake. Patrick Evershed, who is ranked third over three years in the UK All companies section of the Citywire Funds Insider database, has 250,000 shares in his (Rathbone Smaller Cos) unit trust, while Roger Whiteoak's Throgmorton (THRG) investment trust owns 426,320 shares, which represents a 0.44% stake. Nevertheless GW's shares have had a rotten time since the float - they started out at 182.5p, but closed tonight at 98.5p. Some of that fall was probably due to market conditions but the stock has also been hit by a sceptical article in July's British Medical Journal. The BMJ article claimed that cannabis-based drugs were no more effective for pain relief than other methods, but GW has fought back this week with positive news on the company's clinical trials. GW has reported on 53 patients, most of whom suffer from Multiple Sclerosis or spinal cord injury. Of those patients 41 'derived clinically significant benefit' from GW's cannabis derived drugs and the company claimed that 'the data confirms that GW's medicines have an excellent safety profile.' Those results were for patients in Phase I and II trials, but GW's chief executive, Geoffrey Guy, confirmed to Citywire that Phase III trials of the multiple sclerosis treatment have also started. So far 26 patients have taken their first doses and a further 15 have been selected for the trial. Guy also claimed GW's drugs were producing far better results that current treatments, and was dismissive of the BMJ article. He pointed out the article was just a review of data that was collected 20 years ago, and emphasised that the magazine had published a large number of letters that criticised the article. A repeated criticism of the article in those letters was that the old trials were using drugs that were synthetic versions of cannabis, whereas GW is using genuine cannabis. GW grows different strains of cannabis that contain different proportions of the underlying chemicals - different chemical mixes should be appropriate for different diseases. Moreover, when I first met Guy in June he argued that the interaction between the different components of the cannabis plant produced beneficial effects that scientists didn't fully understand, so it would be foolish to rely on synthetic versions of the drugs. Another issue for GW is side effects. It's possible for a patient to become 'high' if he takes too much of the drug, but patients are encouraged to vary their dose until they find the level that alleviates their symptoms without causing other side effects. Guy admitted that cannabis may possibly cause psychological problems for some people, but argued that even if that were the case it wouldn't outweigh the positive benefits that GW's treatments can bring.
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