Big Pharma Re-Hash Medical Marijuana

Known to the world by many names, Marijuana, Cannabis, MJ, Pot, weed or Ganjika in Sanskrit and Ganja in Hindi, this ancient plant has been known to the ancient Indians and Chinese for its medicinal benefits.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

Ayurvedic texts known as Samhitas have extolled the many benefits of this widely available green wonder. Yet, due to misconceptions, willful or otherwise had shrouded it for many centuries. While there are numerous medicinal properties that can be applied, misuse of the plant could also have disastrous consequences, especially if used as an addictive derivative. The global medical cannabis market is set to reach $3.2 billion by 2025, according to GlobalData. With big pharma taking notice and interest in the sector, the cannabis industry is at the brink of a revolution. BioSpectrum deep dives in to the fascination of big pharma in the cannabis space, how will this disrupt the cannabis industry and most importantly how the pharmaceutical cannabis sector should be regulated?

In February 2021, Irish firm Jazz pharmaceuticals announced the acquisition of London-based GW Pharma for $7.2 billion. GW is focused on the discovery and development of therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform. The company’s lead product Epidiolex was the first plant-derived cannabinoid medicine ever approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). This is the first big merger between a pharma company and a cannabis supplier/manufacturer. In recent times, most of the big pharma firms has entered into some sort of agreement with the medical cannabis companies, clearly indicating their growing interest in the sector.

WHY BIG PHARMA IS BETTING ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA?