Sativex is the name of the mouth spray based on cannabis which will enter French pharmacies during the first quarter of 2015.
Its delivery will only be done on prescription, and only for patients with multiple sclerosis wishing to soothe their muscle pain. If its marketing was authorized on January 9, the Ministry of Health would like to point out that this does not mean “legalization of therapeutic cannabis”.
The product is composed of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychotropic molecule in cannabis, as well as cannabidiol, which counteracts the euphoric effects of THC.
If the product is long overdue in pharmacies, it is above all because its price is being negotiated between the French Economic Committee for Health Products and the British manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals. The drug will indeed have a restricted use by its current indications: only 2,000 to 5,000 patients should be concerned. In addition, the prescription will be carried out by the hand of neurologists or hospital rehabilitation doctors and its prescription can only run over 28 days. Pharmacists will be required to place the spray cool, and in a safe like any narcotic drug.
Despite everything, the National Medicines Safety Agency has planned to monitor sales figures very closely, in order to avoid unauthorized prescriptions, in particular to relieve post-chemotherapy nausea or anorexia caused by AIDS.
Responsible for marketing this oral spray, the Almirall laboratory is pleased with this therapeutic advance: “This is good news for French patients who were almost the last in Europe not to be able to benefit from Sativex”, welcomes Christophe Vandeputte. , director of the laboratory. “This Marketing Authorization is the culmination of three years of discussions. It was a delicate issue in an explosive environment, but the outcome is very positive. “
For Martine Schachtel, retired nurse and author of the book “Cannabis on prescription. To keep the desire to live until the end ”, the arrival of Sativex in France is a satisfaction. However, she regrets that the drug is intended for so few patients. “In many European countries, in the United States, in Canada, it is also prescribed for patients suffering from AIDS, who are undergoing chemotherapy. Yet these are very effective drugs for this kind of symptoms, ”she told the site francetvinfo.fr. “I apologize for the patients who may need this medication. I do not understand such a restriction. “
Cannabis oral spray is already available in 17 European countries, includingGermany and the United Kingdom.
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