By now, you've probably heard of medicinal marijuana. What you may not have heard of is a drug derived from marijuana that could be approved to treat epilepsy.
The drug, Epidiolex, may be on its way to becoming the first of its kind to win FDA approval for the treatment of rare forms of childhood epilepsy. Epidiolex contains cannabidiol, one of the active chemical compounds found in marijuana. Unlike marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient, THC, cannabidiol (or CBD) does not cause feelings of euphoria or intoxication, the characteristic "high" associated with pot. Cannabidiol has been linked for years with different kinds of pain relief and even studied in several clinical studies.
The phase 3 trial data that came out this week showed positive results of the drug in children with Dravet syndrome, a rare, lifelong form of epilepsy that begins in infancy.
After the major results, which are just the first of four expected to come out this year, Business Insider caught up with GW's Vice President of Investor Relations Steve Schultz to learn more about the drug and what its approval could mean for the US.
Epilepsy affects roughly 4.3 million people, but the types of epilepsy and kinds of seizures that people with the illness may experience completely vary. That means not every person with epilepsy will respond to certain treatments, including those with cannabidiol. GW is specifically exploring cannabidiol for its potential use in people with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of childhood-onset epilepsy that's associated with multiple types of seizures.
Read more: Drug derived from marijuana to treat epilepsy: GW Pharmaceuticals Epidiolex - Business Insider
The drug, Epidiolex, may be on its way to becoming the first of its kind to win FDA approval for the treatment of rare forms of childhood epilepsy. Epidiolex contains cannabidiol, one of the active chemical compounds found in marijuana. Unlike marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient, THC, cannabidiol (or CBD) does not cause feelings of euphoria or intoxication, the characteristic "high" associated with pot. Cannabidiol has been linked for years with different kinds of pain relief and even studied in several clinical studies.
The phase 3 trial data that came out this week showed positive results of the drug in children with Dravet syndrome, a rare, lifelong form of epilepsy that begins in infancy.
After the major results, which are just the first of four expected to come out this year, Business Insider caught up with GW's Vice President of Investor Relations Steve Schultz to learn more about the drug and what its approval could mean for the US.
Epilepsy affects roughly 4.3 million people, but the types of epilepsy and kinds of seizures that people with the illness may experience completely vary. That means not every person with epilepsy will respond to certain treatments, including those with cannabidiol. GW is specifically exploring cannabidiol for its potential use in people with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of childhood-onset epilepsy that's associated with multiple types of seizures.
Read more: Drug derived from marijuana to treat epilepsy: GW Pharmaceuticals Epidiolex - Business Insider
