Well, well, well. It seems that BIG PHARMA is slowly getting their hands wrapped around the properties of medicinal marijuana. You see, for BIG PHARMA to "patent" something given to us from nature, they have to be able to synthetically reproduce it in the lab. So how does this relate to using the beneficial properties of medicinal marijuana? This time BIG PHARMA is getting "licensing", not a patent, for the use of it's CANNABINOIDS. Nabiximols, licensed as the trade name Sativex, is BIG PHARMA's standardized composition, formula, and dosage from the marijuana (cannabis) plant.
It is administered as a mouth spray. No smoking required. As a matter of fact, let's not use the term marijuana in the remainder of this post. That has a negative connotation attached to it. We will use the medicinal term CANNABIS. You know, marijuana is only used by "pot heads". As the story goes here, Sativex is already approved and used in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Asia (excluding Japan and China), Africa, and the Middle East (excluding Israel).
28 different countries in total with the possibility of FDA approval in the United States by years end in 2013. That's good news, but what does this Cannabis derived drug do?
Sativex is being used for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients to relieve pain, reduce muscle spasticity, and help control an overactive (spastic) bladder. It is not addictive nor does it cause constipation as the traditional FDA approved pain killers do. The side effects can be drowsiness and dizziness. The benefits of Sativex is great news for MS patients. Let's hope now the FDA follows through with approval here in the U.S. next. Sounds good huh. Yet, there is also another exciting possibility. Currently, the drug is in a Phase III clinical study to see if it can help relieve pain in cancer patients. So far, the results are looking extremely encouraging. Hey, if what grows out in nature can be used to help relieve a cancer patients pain, I'm ok with that too.
GW Pharmaceutical Link
Sativex Article Link
Sativex for Cancer Link
Sativex Explanation Video 1
Sativex Explanation Video 2
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