The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the country’s first cannabis derived medication this week. The medication, Epidiolex, is made using cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. Epidiolex is indicated to treat two rare forms of epilepsy.
The drug maker behind Epidiolex, GW Pharmaceuticals was established in 1998, the biopharmaceutical company focused its efforts on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform. GW was originally awarded an NDA (New Drug Application) for Epidiolex in December, 2017.
FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb said in a statement, “This approval serves as a reminder that advancing sound development programs that properly evaluate active ingredients contained in marijuana can lead to important medical therapies… and the FDA is committed to this kind of careful scientific research and drug development.”
This is a monumental moment for the advancement of cannabis as medicine in the U.S. and globally.
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