World's first cannabis-based prescription drug could soon hit U.S pharmacy shelves



A British company is conducting landmark trials which could see medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself making their way to American pharmacy shelves.

GW Pharma is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents - a mouth spray it hopes to market in the US as a treatment for cancer pain. The firm hopes to receive US government approval by the end of next year.

Marijuana's two best known components go into the mouth spray which may become available in every pharmacy

The trials come a quarter of a century after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Sativex contains marijuana's two best known components - delta 9-THC and cannabidiol - and has already been approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries for relieving muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

FDA approval would represent an important milestone in the United States' often uneasy relationship with marijuana, which 16 states and Washington DC already allow people to use legally with doctors' recommendations.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration categorises pot as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but the availability of a chemically similar prescription drug could increase pressure on the government to revisit its position and encourage other drug companies to follow in GW Pharma's footsteps.

The drug is to be marketed in America as a treatment for cancer pain

Possessing marijuana is still illegal in the UK but about a decade ago GW Pharma's founder, Dr Geoffrey Guy, received permission to grow it to develop a prescription drug.

Dr Guy proposed the idea at a scientific conference that heard anecdotal evidence that pot provides relief to multiple sclerosis patients, and the British government welcomed it as a potential way "to draw a clear line between recreational and medicinal use", company spokesman Mark Rogerson said.

Doctors and multiple sclerosis patients are cautiously optimistic about Sativex.



FDA approval of the spray would be a huge milestone in the nation's often uneasy relationship with marijuana

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has not endorsed marijuana use by patients, but the organization is sponsoring a study by a University of California, Davis neurologist to determine how smoking marijuana compares to Marinol in addressing painful muscle spasms.

'The cannabinoids and marijuana will, eventually, likely be part of the clinician's armamentarium, if they are shown to be clinically beneficial,' said Timothy Coetzee, the society's chief research officer.



'The big unknown in my mind is whether they are clearly beneficial.'

In addition to exploring new applications for Sativex, the company is developing drugs with different cannabis formulations.