Worthwhile Medicine How the worldâ first cannabis-based medication was approved

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In 2021, GW Pharmaceuticals plc was sold for $7.2 billion (£5.2 billion), but Dr Geoffrey Guy started it with just a licence from the UK Home Office and his personal cheque book. A Worthwhile Medicine tells the story of how and why he persuaded reluctant health regulators, sceptical investors and a conservative medical establishment that cannabis really could form the basis for a modern pharmaceutical – which he defines as ‘a worthwhile medicine that can make money’.He had built up one publicly quoted pharmaceutical company only to have to step down from the top job after a failed attempt to float on the UK stock market. Undeterred, he started another venture after hearing heartrending tales of how multiple sclerosis sufferers were being denied symptom-relief because cannabis was a prohibited drug. He believed the answer was not to change the law and decriminalise recreational drugs but to create a licensed medicine from cannabis that doctors could prescribe safely for their patients.Looking to the future, Dr Guy has established a foundation to explore the exciting new area of quantum biology – the science of sub-atomic particles – which is completely changing our understanding of the ways in which all life functions.

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