GW Pharmaceuticals Says Phase 2a Ulcerative Colitis Data Positive

LONDON (Alliance News) - GW Pharmaceuticals PLC Tuesday said that Phase 2a data from a Ulcerative Colitis trial showed "promising signals of efficacy in patients who completed course of treatment."

In a statement, the pharma company said 41% of protocol-compliant patients receiving its compound met the primary endpoint of disease remissionin the trial, as did 30% of patients on a placebo.

There were 29 patients in the active treatment group and 30 in the placebo group; during the early weeks of the study more patients withdrew from the active treatment group due to minor tetrahyrdocannabinol related events like dizziness, leading to there being only 17 patients in the treatment group compared to 27 in the placebo group.

"These results provide promising evidence that GWP42003 may produce clinically relevant improvement in the severity of ulcerative colitis compared with placebo, in patients who complete a course of treatment," said Research and Development Director Stephen Wright in a statement.

Additionally, it presented new physician reports on efficacy and safety on 58 children and young adults with treatment-resistant epilepsy who have been treated with its Epidiolex product.

"We are pleased to report that the data on additional children treated with Epidiolex is consistent with the promising signals of efficacy previously seen in our initial data released in June," said Chief Executive Officer Justin Gover in a statement.

Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals are trading up 8.9% at 392.75 pence Tuesday.

By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews

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