Pubdate: Tue, 15 Mar 2016
Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)
Copyright: 2016 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Contact:  http://www.santafenewmexican.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695

MARIJUANA-BASED DRUG FOUND TO REDUCE EPILEPTIC SEIZURES

An experimental drug derived from marijuana has succeeded in reducing 
epileptic seizures in its first major clinical trial, the product's 
developer announced Monday.

The developer, GW Pharmaceuticals, said the drug, Epidiolex, achieved 
the main goal of the trial, reducing convulsive seizures when 
compared with a placebo in patients with Dravet syndrome, a rare form 
of epilepsy. GW shares more than doubled Monday.

If Epidiolex wins regulatory approval, it would be the first 
prescription drug in the United States extracted from marijuana.

As many as 30 percent of the nearly 500,000 American children with 
epilepsy are not sufficiently helped by existing drugs, according to 
GW. Parents of some of these children have been flocking to try 
marijuana extracts, prepared by medical marijuana dispensaries.

New Mexican wire services
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom