Great news for intractable pediatric epilepsy! Epidiolex, the first new anti epileptic drug of cannabinoid from plants, is on the market in the United States

November 2, 2018 / BIOON / -- GW Pharma, a British pharmaceutical company, is a global leader in the research and development of plant-based cannabinoid treatment products, committed to the discovery, development and commercialization of new therapeutic drugs from cannabis Recently, the company announced the launch of a new antiepileptic drug epidilex (cannabidiol) oral liquid system in the U.S market, which is suitable for patients aged 2 and over to treat epilepsy related to Lennox Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and Dravet syndrome (DS) Epidiolex was approved by the US FDA on June 25 this year, becoming the first high-purity, plant-derived cannabis diol (CBD) prescription drug preparation, as well as the first new type of antiepileptic drug (AED) LGS and DS are two rare, severe and childhood epilepsy types, which are also the most difficult to treat Epidiolex is an oral, high-purity CBD extract liquid preparation, CBD is a non spiritual component from cannabis plant, which has a variety of pharmacological effects on the nervous system A large number of studies have shown that CBD has obvious antiepileptic and anticonvulsant activities, with fewer side effects than existing antiepileptic drugs The industry is very optimistic about the business prospects of epidiolex At the beginning of this year, Coriolis Vivian released a report predicting that if it goes public, the sales of epidilex in 2018 and 2019 will be 19 million US dollars and 266 million US dollars respectively, and it will reach 1191 million US dollars in 2022 Epidilex has not been on the market before because the United States regulatory (special) Drug Administration (DEA) listed epidilex as a class 1 controlled drug However, at the end of September, DEA transferred epidiolex from category 1 control to category 5 control drugs DEA is a unit under the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) of the U.S Department of justice, which is responsible for the compulsory management of special drugs such as narcotics In the United States, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances are controlled drugs, which are classified into five categories (1-5) according to the potential risk of abuse and the degree of possible harm to health Among them, the first category of controlled drugs is highly abusive, which is currently not recognized for clinical use, lack of recognized safety, and the most restrictive; the fifth category is the least restrictive classification, and the drugs classified into the fifth category have already been Medical use and low abuse potential have been demonstrated, such as the commonly used cough suppressant Robitussin AC (containing guaiacol ether and codeine) and some commonly used prescription antiepileptic drugs such as vimpat, briviact and Lyrica (pregabalin) Justin gover, chief executive officer of GW company, said that we are very pleased to announce that doctors in the United States can now prescribe epidilex as a new treatment option for LGS and DS syndrome patients, which is the two most difficult types of pediatric epileptic seizures to be treated There is no response to the existing anti epileptic drug treatment, and there is an urgent medical demand for safe and effective new drugs in this field Original source: epidiolex (cannabidiol) oral solution – the first FDA approved plant derived cannabinoid medicine – now available by prescription in the U.S