Physicians warming to CBD drug for epilepsy, pharmaceutical maker tells investors

Broad physician adoption of a cannabis-derived epilepsy treatment is boosting sales for the only company with federal permission to sell cannabis products in the United States.

London-based GW Pharmaceuticals told investors Monday that it notched $108 million in sales last quarter and $309 million for calendar 2019.

The sales figures were released in advance of the company’s quarterly earnings report because executives are meeting with potential investors this week.

The company’s sales results appear to beat consensus analyst expectations, which were $102.4 million.

The vast majority of GW’s actual sales, $104 million, came from epilepsy drug Epidiolex.

Epidiolex, the only plant-derived cannabis drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, contains CBD extracted from marijuana plants grown in the United Kingdom.

GW attributed the sales figures to physicians being amenable to prescribing Epidiolex.

The company owns another cannabis-derived drug, Sativex, which treats spasms caused by multiple sclerosis.

Sativex is approved for use in several European countries but not in the United States.

GW’s shares are traded on the Nasdaq as GWPH.

An earnings table that includes some hemp companies is available here.