Drugmaker to test fat-fighting marijuana drug.

[Brash]

Drugmaker to test fat-fighting marijuana drug

link to original article

GW Pharmaceuticals says it has a cannabis-derived treatment to suppress hunger; company plans to start human trials.

January 30 2007: 1:41 PM EST

 

LONDON (Reuters) -- Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals Plc said Tuesday it plans to start human trials of an experimental treatment for obesity derived from cannabis.

 

Cannabis is commonly associated with stimulating hunger. Several other companies, including Sanofi-Aventis with Acomplia, are working on new drugs that try to switch off the brain circuits that make people hungry when they smoke it.

 

GW Pharma, however, says it has derived a treatment from cannabis itself that could help suppress hunger.

 

Big Pharma's drug wish list for 2007

"The cannabis plant has 70 different cannabinoids in it, and each has a different effect on the body," GW Managing Director Justin Gover told Reuters.

 

"Some can stimulate your appetite, and some in the same plant can suppress your appetite. It is amazing both scientifically and commercially," he said in a telephone interview.

 

GW said it plans to start clinical trials of the new drug in the second half of this year. Medicines have to pass three stages of tests in humans before being assessed by regulators in a process that takes many years.

 

Sanofi-Aventis' (Charts) Acomplia, which it believes can achieve $3 billion in annual sales, is already on sale in Europe and it is waiting for a U.S. regulatory decision in April.

 

Several other big drug companies also have similar products to Acomplia already in clinical trials.

 

GW is best known for developing Sativex, a treatment derived from cannabis that fights spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients. Sativex, an under-the-tongue spray, has been approved in Canada, but has hit delays with regulators in Britain.

 

GW, which competes with rivals such as AstraZeneca (Charts), submitted Sativex for assessment by several European regulators in September, and hopes to secure approval for the UK, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands in the second half of this year at the earliest, the company said Tuesday.

 

GW said revenue for the year ended Sept. 30 was slightly ahead of expectations at £1.98 million, £1.35 million of which came from Sativex.

 

The firm posted a pre-tax loss of £13.9 million, in line with forecasts. According to a poll of analysts by Reuters Estimates, the loss in 2007 will be £13.5 million.

 

GW's marijuana plants are grown indoors in a secret location in Southern England.

 

"With a U.S. partnering deal and a European approval both expected this year, we remain very comfortable with our Buy recommendation," Investec analyst Ibraheem Mahmood said.

 

GW shares were up almost 5.5 percent, valuing the company at £92.5 million.

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this is clearly the way to make money from pot

 

Brash

[Frazz]

Cannabis drug may help fight obesity By Amie Ferris-Rotman

Tue Jan 30, 11:11 AM ET

 

It is amazing both scientifically and commercially," he said.

 

Yep so amazing its illegal ... but that doesnt stop Pharmacutical drug dealers from isolating the active compounds and patenting them as thier own property

 

guess it is hailed as a break thru for all the fat bastards

 

[Stoney]

well all i need now is something that suppresses my thirst for beer and i'll be a happy camper

 

cheerz :Dj:

[Indycar]

Beaut, Grow the gunja, mess with it with various processes, bung in some more chemicals, pack it up and make a bloody fortune...

 

Thanks, but no thanks. Luckily for me, gunja has always worked as a hunger suppressant. I'll stick to the old school way thanks.