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UK: Britain's first cannabis-based medicine will be available in January

Epidyolex will be available for British epilepsy sufferers from Jan. 6 after the government fast-tracked it into the National Health Service.

It will be the first medicinal cannabis product that doctors can prescribe to patients after the UK legalized medical marijuana in October 2018. The government struck a deal last month with producer GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH) to bring down the price of Epidyolex.

It was previously deemed too expensive for the NHS to fund, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is now happy for doctors to prescribe it for anyone suffering from two forms of epilepsy: Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes.

Another drug produced by GW Pharma, Sativex, was also given the green light by NICE. Sativex is a spray containing CBD and THC, to multiple sclerosis patients, while Epidyolex is an oral CBD solution.

The product is registered as Epidiolex in the U.S., where it is the only medical marijuana product to gain FDA approval. It has also received the thumbs-up from the European Union.

Read the full article at grizzle.com

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