Cannabis drug begins last phase of U.S. testing as

[Frazz]

GW Pharmaceuticals and its Japanese partner, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, began the final phase of U.S. testing of the cannabis-based Sativex pain-relief medicine for some cancer patients.

 

The five-week trial of 336 patients will test whether the drug helps advanced cancer sufferers who no longer respond to opium-based pain relievers, the companies said in a statement Monday. GW Pharma, based in Salisbury, England, plans to report findings from the study next year and expects to receive U.S. regulatory approval in 2011.

 

Otsuka, which is closely held, has exclusive rights to develop and market Sativex in the United States. There are more than six million cancer patients and GW Pharma estimates as much as 40 percent of them have severe enough pain to warrant an opium-based treatment. Sativex, a mist sprayed in the mouth, is already approved in Canada for pain relief from advanced cancer and multiple sclerosis.

 

"Sativex has the potential to be a lucrative niche drug," Stefan Hamill, a Clear Capital analyst, said in London. "Data in the beginning of 2008 will convince the market that this is actually a real drug."

 

Hamill, who has a buy rating on GW Pharma, estimates peak sales for U.S. cancer pain at $200 million a year and worldwide annual revenue of $350 million.

 

Otsuka, the discoverer of the antipsychotic medicine Abilify, and GW Pharma in July also agreed to collaborate on researching and developing cannabis-based treatments related to the central nervous system and cancer.

 

GW Pharma is already screening molecules from marijuana plants for Otsuka, and the first potential products may enter very early clinical testing next year, said Justin David Gover, the managing director at GW Pharma.

 

The agreement gives GW Pharma "a pipeline that is fully funded," he said Nov. 15. "We were wondering how we were going to fund the U.S. bit" before the deal.

 

GW Pharma also has Sativex licensing agreements with Bayer for Britain and Canada and Laboratorios Almirall for the rest of Europe. Gover said the company will seek partners next year to develop cannabis-based treatments for inflammatory conditions, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and osteoporosis.

 

Author: Trista Kelley Bloomberg News

Date: November 26, 2007

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/26/bloomberg/sxpot.php

Copyright: International Herald Tribune

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These jokers are gunna corner the market on cannabis-based medicines ... AND they have some very interesting research into Cannabis on their web site here http://www.gwpharm.com/research_cannabinoids.asp which i suppose is 'research at the cutting edge' cause there is big $ involved here these jokers have done serious research i would imagine

 

Edit ; good time to buy their shares @ all-time low now

[mull]

They get to have their cake and eat it, yet way further prohibit ours... um... bah....

[dsyfer]

After reading the page of research on their website I am now even more totally baffled that this plant that has so many known and still so many unknown uses is still fucking illegal the world over (apart from one or two 'semi tolerated' cities).

 

When will they realise that people from every corner of the globe have and always will use cannabis, why? because biologically we know it is a useful plant.

 

Just as we evolved over the years to make use of other useful plants (fruit, vegetables) humans evolved to make the best use of the cannabis plant, why else would we have CBD and THC receptors, when both those chemicals are native to cannabis.

 

Here is a plant that we possibly evolved with to use (healing, relaxation, creativity, anti depression etc etc etc)

 

Just as we need vitamins and minerals from other plants, who is to say we don't need THC and CBD for medical benefits.

 

I wonder if the increase in cancer and other diseases in the modern world coincide with the prohibition of cannabis and its byproducts???????

Edited November 27, 2007 by dsyfer

[roid]

Buy shares?

 

Why would you want to be a part of this?

 

It's like buying shares in weapon manufacturers when a war is comming up. Sure you make some cash - but dude, so wrong. It's profiteering on the War on (some) Drugs. It's like rounding up all the Eskimos, putting them in the Sahara desert - then selling them the frozen ice that they no longer have thanks to you.

 

To buy shares in this, is directly making the War on Drugs a more profitable endeavour.

It's Bombing for Peace, it's Fucking for Virginity.