England-Wales divide looms over cannabis drug

Sativex, a cannabis-derived drug for treating muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis, could be available in Wales but blocked in England.

GW Pharmaceuticals, the British company that develops cannabis-based medicines, is facing the prospect of having its multiple sclerosis treatment blocked in England but available in Wales.

The Welsh medicines board has recommended the use of Sativex to treat medium to severe muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis and is awaiting final approval from the devolved Government, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Sativex could, however, be blocked from routine use in England. Draft guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice), issued in April, recommended against the use of Sativex in multiple sclerosis. If this remains unchanged in the final guidelines, expected in October, Sativex will not be available on the NHS in England.

Justin Gover, chief executive of GW Pharmaceuticals, said it was a "travesty" that different parts of the UK could have different guidelines on Sativex, a mouth spray made from compounds derived from the cannabis plant.

"We very much hope that it [Nice] will indeed endorse use of the medicine - it would make little sense if you could drive to Wales and get the drug but not in England," he added.

The draft guidelines have also attracted criticism from neurologists and patient groups, who say Sativex and Famprya, another drug which could be blocked, can stop sufferers "screaming out" in pain.

Experts have questioned Nice's cost-benefit methodology, saying it had vastly overestimated the doses needed for the effective management of symptoms.

Sativex has been licensed for use in the UK since 2010, but did not undergo a clinical assessment until this year, with Nice due to update its multiple sclerosis guidelines for the first time in a decade.

About 100,000 people in the UK suffer from MS

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemicals/11022215/England-Wales-divide-over-cannabis-based-MS-drug-looms.html 09/08/2014