GW Pharmaceuticals receives U.S. patent for treating glioma

Dec 11 2013

GW Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: GWPH, AIM: GWP, "GW" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Application Serial Number 12/996,124, a patent which covers the use of cannabinoids for treating glioma.

Glioma describes any tumor that arises from the glial tissue of the brain. Glioblastoma, or GBM, is a particularly aggressive tumor that forms from abnormal growth of glial tissue. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, GBM accounts for approximately 46% of the 22,500 new cases of brain cancer diagnosed in the United States each year. Treatment options are limited and expected survival is a little over one year. GBM is considered a rare disease by the FDA and the European Medicines Agency, or EMA.

The subject patent specifically covers a method for treating glioma in a human using a combination of  cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) wherein the cannabinoids are in a ratio of from 1:1 to 1:20 (THC:CBD) with the intent to reduce cell viability, inhibit cell growth or reduce tumor volume. A Notice of Allowance is issued after the USPTO makes a determination that a patent can be granted from an application. The issued patent from this application will provide an exclusivity period until June 2029.

"This Notice of Allowance follows the recent launch of our first human trials in glioma and several years of pre-clinical research in the field," stated Justin Gover, GW's Chief Executive Officer. "The treatment of Glioma is part of our exciting new orphan drug program which includes a number of therapeutic targets and demonstrates the flexibility of GW's proprietary cannabinoid platform in treating a broad range of disease types."

GW's intellectual property portfolio includes multiple patent families with issued and/or pending claims directed to plants, plant extracts, extraction technology, pharmaceutical formulations, drug delivery and the therapeutic uses of cannabinoids, as well as plant variety rights, know-how and trade secrets.