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UK: Cannabis Painkiller Hope for Cancer Patients

David Winning

PA News

Wednesday 19 Jan 2005

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Cancer patients in severe pain were today offered hope that their suffering
could be relieved by a new drug derived from cannabis.

GW Pharmaceuticals said clinical trials of its Sativex oral spray had shown
that it was statistically superior to placebo in relieving pain.

The drug was tested on 177 cancer patients in final trials and was found to
improve their pain by a third in approximately 40% of cases.

Shares rose 2% after the preliminary findings of the trials were announced
alongside GW's annual results, which showed losses widening to UKP15.7
million during the year to September 30 from UKP9.6 million a year ago.

Sativex is a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing
tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol.

It has received preliminary approval in Canada for easing the pain of
patients with multiple sclerosis, while trials have also shown the drug to
be effective in treating arthritis sufferers.

But efforts to get Sativex approved in the UK suffered a setback at the
start of December when regulators demanded further tests, causing the
company to lose almost a quarter of its value.

GW, which grows cannabis plants at a secret location, said it was
determined to prove the efficacy of Sativex and should know in the summer
whether it has secured UK approval.

Executive chairman Dr Geoffrey Guy said the raft of positive clinical data
and the imminent approval of Sativex in Canada meant there was "good reason
to be excited about the year ahead".

"We expect 2005 to be the year of our first product launch, a time of
restored momentum, as well as a financial turning point as we start to
generate commercial revenues from product sales," he said.

German drugs group Bayer Healthcare will exclusively market the medicine
once it gains final approval.

 

 

 

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