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HOME  |  ARTICLES  |  HEALTH

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Pot drug developed for MS sufferers

Spray could counter debilitating symptoms

Bayer, British firm seek Ottawa's approval


HELEN BRANSWELL
CANADIAN PRESS

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer HealthCare has applied to market a marijuana-based drug in Canada.

If approved, it would be the first cannabis-based drug legally available in this country for the relief of debilitating symptoms of multiple sclerosis and severe neuropathic pain.

Bayer and GW Pharmaceuticals of Britain announced yesterday they had filed a new drug submission to Health Canada for Sativex, an oral spray developed by GW Pharmaceuticals and licensed to Bayer.

A spokesperson for Health Canada said it typically takes about 18 months for the department's therapeutic products directorate to review and rule on a submission.

Bayer's vice-president for public policy and communication said the companies are confident, based on early discussions with the department, that the submission will be approved.

"We hope to get it through the regulatory process, and in as quick time as possible," Doug Grant said yesterday.

"You can never tell with any drug, once it gets into the regulatory process, but they have been quite open in discussing this with us."

The companies describe the product as a whole plant, medicinal, cannabis extract, containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol as its principal components.

Other cannabis-based drugs are available in Canada. They are used by cancer and AIDS patients to control nausea and vomiting and to restore appetite as a means of combatting the wasting effect of those diseases.

Sativex would be the first cannabis-derived drug aimed at MS sufferers.

The head of the MS clinic at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto said that, if the drug is approved, it would be a welcome addition to the arsenal of drugs available to alleviate the pain and spasticity experienced by many patients with MS.

Other, non-cannabis drugs are on the market to treat those symptoms of MS but there "remains a subgroup of MS patients who don't respond well, or at all, to the anti-pain, anti-spasticity drugs. And that group would want to try this," said neurologist Dr. Paul O'Connor.

If approved, "I would certainly want to try it in certain patients," he said.

Approximately 50,000 people in Canada are diagnosed with MS.

Source: TheStar.com