MedChew Rx, by AXIM Biotechnology, Inc., the world’s first patented cannabinoid release chewing gum for pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS), is moving into clinical testing. If all goes well, the company plans for a global release date of 2017.
Medical cannabis is believed to have considerable promise as a therapy for difficult-to-treat pain associated with disorders like MS and other conditions that cause nerve pain. AXIM Biotech, based in New York and Ridderkerk, the Netherlands, says that if approved as expected by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and the EMA (European Medicines Agency), MedChew Rx — formulated with 5 mg of cannabidiol (CBD) and 5 mg of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — will be marketed as a pharmaceutical drug for treating MS.
AXIM and MedChew Rx were profiled in a feature article this week by the Reuters global news agency’s Natalie Grover, documenting AXIM’s early testing of MedChew Rx, being conducted in the Netherlands, and comparing AXIM’s product to U.K.-based GW Pharmaceuticals’ Sativex, which is not as yet approved in the United States, as well as to noncannabis-based Botox, and baclofen, a muscle relaxant.
Among the estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million worldwide with MS, roughly 80 percent suffer from spasticity, which is frequently treated with baclofen. AXIM anticipates that MedChew Rx could amount to more than $4.8 billion per year in the U.S. market (an estimate it derives from Sativex’s four daily treatments at $8.24 per dose), although Ms. Grover notes that state health systems in some countries, including GW Pharmaceuticals’ home market, do not consider the drug cost-effective enough to justify coverage.
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