In what may be a first for a medical cannabis company, GW Pharmaceuticals has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2021 in the Innovation category.
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, considered the most prestigious awards for UK business, recognise and encourage outstanding achievements in the fields of innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity.
GW Pharma received the award for its efforts in harnessing cannabinoid science to create innovative cannabis-based medicines to improve lives.
“We are immensely proud to have that work and dedication recognised by the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise,” said GW’s Chief Executive Officer Justin Gover. “Our continued commitment to research and development has resulted in the treatment of thousands of patients with our medicines, and the prospect of helping countless more families through our robust pipeline of early- and late-stage product candidates.”
The company says it has invested more than £1.3 billion in the research, development and infrastructure needed to bring new medicines to patients. And that seems to be paying off in spades.
We reported earlier this year the company estimated its net product sales for 2020 to have reached approximately USD $526 million – and its cannabidiol medicine Epidiolex made up the majority of that figure.
Epidiolex, marketed under the name Epidyolex in the EU and Australia, was the first CBD medicine approved by the USA’s Food and Drug Administration, which occurred back in 2018.
Epidyolex then gained approval in the European Union for the treatment of Lennox‑Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome in 2019, and in 2020 from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for the treatment of seizures associated with LGS or Dravet syndrome in patients two years of age and older.
On a related note, the company announced late last month it had received European Commission approval for Epidyolex for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex. This approval was one of the company’s goals for 2021.
In other recent GW Pharma news, the company also announced in April that its shareholders voted to approve the acquisition of GW by a subsidiary of Jazz Pharmaceuticals (or its nominee(s)). GW entered into an agreement with Jazz Pharmaceuticals in February this year that will see the latter acquire the former for a total consideration of $7.2 billion.
