Global business news twenty four hours a day. If Bloomberg dot com the radio plus mobile act and on your radio, this is a Broomberg business flag from Bloomberg World Headquarters. I'm Charlie Pelad. Oracle is reporting sales that topped analysts estimates after cloud based products picked up momentum with corporate customers. Stocks rebounded today. The SMP five hundred index halted its longest losing streaks since February amid shifting speculation on whether
Britain will remain in the European Union. Equities recovered from a one percent sell off, the SMP five hundred index advancing three tenths of one percent, up six points to
two thousand seventy seven. Nan stack up nine, a gain of two tents of one percent down, industrials up ninety two, a gain of five tenths of one percent, The ten year down one thirty second, the yield there one point five seven percent, Gold down four sixty ounce to twelve eighty three, a drop of four tenths of one percent, and crude oil down at dollar eighty three of barrel eighteen on West Texas Intermediate. That was a drop today of three point eight percent. I'm Charlie Pellett, and that's
a Bloomberg Business flash. You're listening to Taking the Stock with Kathleen Hayes and Pim Fox on Bloomberg Radio. The marijuana industry is on a hyperbolic upswing in the United States, starting with medical marijuana legalized a few years ago, and
now more states even legalizing recreational marijuana. But do you know that one of the leaders of the cannabis industry is a British pharmaceutical company that was founded in which trades on the nasdack and has a very successful drug that is used to treat multiple sclerosis in twenty seven countries outside of the United States. We're joined now by Justin Gober, he's CEO of GW Pharmaceuticals, joining us from Carlsbad, California, the US opera ration of this company, which is headquartered
in the u k. Justin welcome. Thank you very much for having me on your show today. So, I think alat of people don't realize that cannabis has been used in research and developing drugs for a long time. How
did GW Pharmaceuticals get into this? So, as you mentioned in your introduction, we we set up g W Pharmaceuticals back in the UK in order to separate out, if you will, the the controversies around cannabis marijuana and their potential medicinal properties or recreational properties, and look to research specifically into the science underlining molecules in the cannabis plant and to identify potential new therapeutic options and development as
bona fide prescription medicines according to the FDA process. So this was a thesis that we developed back in the UK in the late nineties. It's something that we're proud to have conducted exclusively for the last eighteen years. As you mentioned, we have a drug approved in Europe to treat multiple sclerosis and now are moving our operations gradually towards the United States as we focus our research increasingly
on the epilepsy um disease area. Justin would it be accurate to use an analogy that aspirin was first derived from the bark of the willow tree, So there's something in nature that can be harnessed in order to produce a medical outcome. Well, indeed, for for thousands of years, indeed, most most medicines were plant plant derived and indeed, even in the last fifty years, medicines such as aspirin, indeed,
opiates are another example. Are are examples of areas where plants have formed the source material for molecules which are then subsequently developed as prescription medications. And in a way, it's surprising that the cannabis has not been subjected to this kind of research over the last fifty one years.
So we are gw feel that that we've taken on a logical and what should be relatively uncontroversial role in identifying real science here and providing data on safety and efficacy around specific molecules in the cannabis plant which may ultimately have important therapeutic therapeutic uses. We'll tell us more about your specific drugs and what they do, because again you're already having lots of success in your work for
multiple sclerosis. And then of course there's epilepsy. Yes, So so the research we've been carrying out over the last eighteen years has generally focused on diseases of the central nervous system, and there's no doubt that our most important research at the present time, particularly in the United States,
relates to the field of childhood epilepsy. There are a number of very challenging, difficult to treat, sometimes rare conditions suffered by children with epilepsy for which there's little or no approved medication. So so we've developed a formulation of a molecule called cannabi dial or CBD. And what's interesting about CBD is it's it's a non psychoactive component of the cannabis plant, so it doesn't make you high. It's
not sought after by recreational users of cannabis. But we're we've been able to develop and manufacturer of formulation of this pure compound, manufactured it to pharmaceutical standards, and have been researching it in the United States now for the last few years. And indeed, in March, we announced positive results from a a late stage phase three trial in a condition called Drava syndrome, which is a rare and
sadly catastrophic form of childhood epilepsy. And just to reiterate using a one, if you could tell us what happened in March of this year, because it's certainly sent your stark flying. It certainly did, and and and I think that the stock price reflects what what a momentous event it really was. Both for our company, I think, for the field of cannabinoid science and hopefully of course for
the for the arena of childhood epilepsy as well. And the trial result that was reported in March was the first of a small number of late stage phase three trials which have which are being conducted in order to allow us to provide a regulatory submission to the FDA to seek approval for this medication we call it EPIDIALECTS, and this trial was the first ever large scale placebo controlled evidence of our drug having efficacy in this patient population.
We we in fact have been evaluating this this men cation um in it in what's called a compassionate use program in the United States for the last two and a half years. There are several hundred children taking the drug on prescription right now. But this data in March was the first formal placebo controlled data to emerge and as such allows us to plan forward towards the prospect of making a submission to the FDA and hence the stock price reaction. Thank you very much for joining us.
Justin gober He is the chief executive of GW Pharmaceuticals. Stock symbol is g w p h chairs have risen twe so far this year. You're listening to Bloomberg Radio. Coming up on Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg Law legal expert June Grasso will cover another one of the big legal issues of the day, inside and out right here on Bloomberg Radio.