#epidiolex

U.S. health regulators on Monday approved the first prescription drug made from marijuana, a milestone that could spur more research into a drug that remains illegal under federal law in the U.S., despite growing legalization for recreational and medical use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the medication, called Epidiolex, to treat two rare forms of epilepsy that begin in childhood. But it's not quite medical marijuana. The strawberry-flavoured syrup is a purified form of a chemical ingredient found in the cannabis plant — but not the one that gets users high. It's not yet clear why the ingredient, called cannabidiol, or CBD, reduces seizures in some people with epilepsy.

FDA approves cannabis-based drug CBD for epilepsy 

The Food and Drug Administration approved the prescription cannabidiol medicine Monday to treat rare and severe forms of epilepsy.

The new drug, Epidiolex, is a formulation of cannabidiol — CBD for short. It’s derived from cannabis but doesn’t contain the THC that recreational users value for providing “highs."

“This is an important medical advance,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. “But it’s also important to note that this is not an approval of marijuana or all of its components. This is the approval of one specific CBD medication for a specific use.”

WITH the fast-growing CBD sector tied up in a regulatory quagmire hundreds of transatlantic industry players face an uncertain future. However, one UK company – the one which pioneered the medical use of the cannabis extract cannabidiol – will have an all together different take on events. GW Pharmaceuticals, which was bought by Irish firm Jazz Pharmaceuticals for $7.2bn in 2021, launched its…

Epilepsy patients navigate a murky, unregulated CBD market

The products may help some people with the neurological disorder, but obtaining the right treatments can be difficult In 2013, Tonya Taylor says, she was suicidal because her epileptic seizures kept coming even though she was taking a long list of medications. Then a fellow patient at a Denver neurologist’s office mentioned something that gave Taylor hope: a CBD oil called Charlotte’s Web. The…