Dive Brief:
- GW Pharma's lead drug, Epidiolex, is an orallly administered droplet developed from cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant.
- CEO Justin Gover is moving from London, where GW is headquartered, to Southern California to lay the groundwork for U.S. operations.
- Epidiolex is currently in phase III trials.
Dive Insight:
Some may see this move as putting the cart before the horse. But GW is projecting confidence in its product, especially considering results from an open-label study finding that Epidiolex reduced seizures by more than half in patients with severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy.
GW chairman Geoffrey Guy said that it was important for the company to begin building manufacturing facilities ahead of an anticipated U.S. approval, and hence Gover's move to the other side of the Atlantic.