GW Pharmaceuticals announces US patent allowance for pain relieving treatment

AIM-listed biopharmaceutical company GW Pharmaceuticals has reported that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of allowance for US application serial number 13/606,742, a patent application directed to the spray device of its Sativex product formulation.

In the US, Sativex is currently in phase three clinical development as a potential treatment of pain in people with advanced cancer.

By way of background, a notice of allowance is issued after the USPTO makes a determination that a patent can be granted from an application.

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The patent claims a metered valve pump spray device consisting of a liquid cannabis extract, in propylene glycol and ethanol, which is adapted to spray a dose towards a patient's sublingual mucosa.

The group said that the issued patent from the application would be expected to expire in March 2021.

Justin Gover, GW Pharmaceuticals' Chief Executive Officer, commented: "This notice of allowance directed to the Sativex delivery device comes soon after the 13/607,897 notice of allowance directed to a method of sublingual delivery of the Sativex pharmaceutical formulation."

He added: "Not only does GW have claims directed to the method of sublingual delivery of the Sativex formulation, but it also has claims directed to the device within which it is contained."

GW's intellectual property portfolio includes multiple patent families with issued or pending claims directed to plants, plant extracts, extraction technology, pharmaceutical formulations, drug delivery and the therapeutic uses of cannabinoids.

MF