GW Pharmaceuticals


GW Pharmaceuticals is a British pharmaceutical company known for its multiple sclerosis treatment product nabiximols which was the first natural cannabis plant derivative to gain market approval in any country. Another cannabis-based product, Epidiolex, was approved for treatment of epilepsy by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2018.

History

GW Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1998 by Doctors Geoffrey Guy and Brian Whittle. That year, they obtained a cultivation license from the United Kingdom Home Office and the MHRA, allowing the company to cultivate, possess and supply cannabis to conduct scientific research concerning medicinal uses of the plant.
Later that year, GW Pharmaceuticals entered into a contract with HortaPharm B.V., a cannabis research and development corporation based in Amsterdam. The company was founded by two expert horticulturists from California, Robert Connell Clarke and David Paul Watson, and grew and developed specialized strains of cannabis with permission from the Dutch government.
In 2001, GW Pharmaceuticals listed on AIM, the junior market of the London Stock Exchange. In May 2013, the company became dual-listed on the NASDAQ and AIM.

Marketed products

Sativex

Nabiximols is a botanical drug that is a cannabis extract, administered as a mouth spray; it was approved in the UK in 2010 as a treatment for multiple sclerosis patients to alleviate neuropathic pain, spasticity, overactive bladder, and other symptoms.
Nabiximols is made with two unknown Cannabis strains, and is extracted with ethanol and carbon dioxide.
In 2011, GW Pharmaceuticals concluded a partnership with Bayer for the distribution of Sativex in the UK, and have an estimated annual production of 100 tons of medicinal cannabis since 2012.

Epidiolex

In 2015 GW Pharmaceutical initiated Phase 3 clinical trials of cannabidiol oral solution for treatment of two orphan conditions in children – Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes. GW also received fast track designation from the US FDA for use of the drug candidate to treat newborns with epilepsy.
The drug, under the brand name Epidiolex, was given US FDA approval in June 2018. It was subsequently given European EMA approval in September 2019 under the brand name Epidyolex.