Porton Down, United Kingdom: Long-term administration of Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts, reduces spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients, according to clinical trial data reported last week by the biotechnology firm GW Pharmaceuticals.
Thirty-six patients completed the placebo-controlled randomized withdrawal study. Subjects in the study had been using Sativex for a mean of 3.6 years.
Patients who ceased using Sativex during the four-week trial experienced significantly worse spasticity than they had while taking the drug, investigators reported.
There was “no evidence of withdrawal syndrome in those patients who stopped taking Sativex.”
A similarly designed study previously reported that long-term use of Sativex consistently reduced MS-associated neuropathic pain. Patients in that study continued to receive adequate pain relief from Sativex over a period of several years without growing tolerant to the drug or having to increase their daily dose over time.
“Taken together, these studies show that the efficacy of Sativex in the treatment of both neuropathic pain and spasticity due to MS is maintained in long-term use,” researchers concluded in a press release.
Ongoing investigations of the use of cannabinoids and multiple sclerosis have indicated that the compounds may slow the progression of the disease. A 2008 review published in the journal Current Pharmaceutical Design reported, “Cannabinoids may not only offer symptom control but [they] may also slow the neurodegenerative disease progression that ultimately leads to the accumulation of disability.”
In 2005, Sativex was approved in Canada for prescription use to ameliorate symptoms of MS.
For more information, please visit: http://www.gwpharm.com/.