GW Pharmaceuticals PLC shares rose more than 2% Monday, after the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said it would recommend that the country's National Health Service (NHS) offer routine reimbursement for Epidyolex, its cannabis-based treatment for severe forms of childhood epilepsy. Leerink said the news was a clear positive for the stock, coming after NICE published two draft guidances that were largely against the use of Epidyolex on the NHS. "We believe this was merely part of the price negotiation process between GW and NICE, rather than NICE finding some issue with either product," analysts led by Marc Goodman wrote in a note to clients. GW Pharma has said it expects pricing in the UK to be in range to 50% to 70% of the U.S. price, while France is also getting close to it too. "Epidiolex in the US is still ramping nicely for Dravet Syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), and physicians are getting incrementally more comfortable with off-label usage in other indications," the analysts wrote. "Europe is just starting to kick in and will add a nice boost to sales, especially given our understanding that the excitement in the EU epilepsy community is similar to that in the US." The drug is marketed as Epidiolex in the U.S. GW Pharma shares have gained about 15% in 2019, outperforming the broader cannabis sector. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF has fallen 23% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 23%. Read More...
GW Pharmaceuticals PLC shares rose more than 2% Monday, after the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said it would recommend that the country’s National Health Service (NHS) offer routine reimbursement for Epidyolex, its cannabis-based treatment for severe forms of childhood epilepsy. Leerink said the news was a clear positive for the stock, coming after NICE published two draft guidances that were largely against the use of Epidyolex on the NHS. “We believe this was merely part of the price negotiation process between GW and NICE, rather than NICE finding some issue with either product,” analysts led by Marc Goodman wrote in a note to clients. GW Pharma has said it expects pricing in the UK to be in range to 50% to 70% of the U.S. price, while France is also getting close to it too. “Epidiolex in the US is still ramping nicely for Dravet Syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), and physicians are getting incrementally more comfortable with off-label usage in other indications,” the analysts wrote. “Europe is just starting to kick in and will add a nice boost to sales, especially given our understanding that the excitement in the EU epilepsy community is similar to that in the US.” The drug is marketed as Epidiolex in the U.S. GW Pharma shares have gained about 15% in 2019, outperforming the broader cannabis sector. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF has fallen 23% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 23%.
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