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Canada approves cannabis drug

Ben Kilbey

The Guardian

Wednesday 22 Dec 2004

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The prospects of using cannabis to treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis
were given a boost yesterday after Canadian regulators gave the go-ahead
for a compound called Sativex to be developed by Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals.

Geoffrey Guy, the GW chairman, who has struggled to win mainstream
acceptance for the medicinal properties of cannabis, said: "The Canadian
regulators have realised the benefits of the drug to patients, whereas in
the UK the regulators look purely at the data supplied and not at the
patients."

Shares in GW lost a third of their value this month after UK regulators
decided Sativex, a nasal spray, could not go on sale due to a lack of
evidence about its effectiveness.

Hopes that Canadian approval will pave the way for the launch of the drug
in Britain saw GW shares rise 8.5p to 113.5p, triggering upbeat reports
from City analysts.

"I wouldn't suggest that the approval by Health Canada will affect the
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) decision, it
certainly doesn't apply any direct pressure. It does, however, suggest that
Sativex should be approved on a wider basis at some point in the near
future. It's more a question of when rather than if," said Jonathan Senior,
an analyst at Evolution Securities.

In the UK the company still has to prove the effectiveness of Sativex with
a further trial. GW expects to start selling the drug in Canada next year.
The Home Office granted GW a licence to grow marijuana plants at a secret
location in the English countryside in 1998.

Many patient groups in the UK were disappointed with the decision by the
MHRA and the Committee on Safety of Medicines this month.

At the time, Mike O'Donovan, the chief executive of the Multiple Sclerosis
Society, said: "The results are extremely disappointing for many of the
85,000 people in the UK who have MS. The society believes those who might
benefit should be able to have treatment prescribed on the NHS and we very
much hope the Medicines Commission will take that view."

 

 

 

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