GW Pharma Receives Positive NICE Recommendation For EPIDYOLEX Oral Solution

(RTTNews) - GW Pharmaceuticals plc (GWPH) said that two of its medicines, EPIDYOLEX or cannabidiol oral solution and Sativex or nabiximols, have been recommended by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence or NICE to receive routine reimbursement from NHS England.

Cannabidiol oral solution is recommended as an adjunctive therapy for seizures associated with Lennox Gastaut syndrome (LGS) or Dravet syndrome, in conjunction with clobazam, for patients two years of age and older.

Nabiximols, reviewed as part of NICE's evaluation of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs), has been considered cost effective for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis.

Dravet syndrome is a severe infantile-onset and highly treatment-resistant epileptic encephalopathy frequently associated with genetic mutations in the sodium channel gene SCN1A. Onset of Dravet syndrome typically occurs during the first year of life in previously healthy and developmentally normal infants.

Initial seizures are often body temperature related, severe, and long-lasting. Over time, patients with Dravet syndrome often develop multiple types of seizures, including tonic-clonic, myoclonic and atypical absences and are prone to bouts of prolonged seizures including status epilepticus, which can be life threatening. Risk of premature death including SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) is elevated in patients with Dravet syndrome.