Cannabis oil from a specially bred strain of the plant could be available to epileptic children on the NHS as early as next year.
US drugs regulators are expected to approve the use of Epidiolex on Wednesday and GW Pharma, the British manufacturer of the drug, believes the European Medicines Agency will follow suit in months.
That would pave the way for thousands of children like Alfie Dingley, six, and Billy Caldwell, 12, to be prescribed it on the NHS to help control their seizures.
Justin Gover, chief executive of GW Pharma, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We hope by this time next year that Epidiolex will be approved on the NHS.’
He estimates it could help between 4,000 and 5,000 people with epilepsy in the UK – about half of them children. >>>