Morgan Stanley raises GW Pharmaceuticals price target to $240 on cannabis epilepsy drug Epidiolex

Analysts at Morgan Stanley raised their price target Friday for GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (Nasdaq:GWPH) to $240 from $197 as a prelude to a “strong” launch for the biotech’s Epidiolex cannabis-based oral medicine for epilepsy.

The company’s Epidiolex cannabis-based oral medicine for epilepsy was transferred Thursday to Schedule V, the lowest restriction classification, by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The UK-based, US-listed company has developed treatments for both Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes — two rare types of childhood epilepsy that are highly treatment-resistant.

According to business news site Thefly.com, Morgan Stanley analyst David Lebowitz raised his price target on shares of GW Pharmaceuticals to $240 from $197 following the DEA’s assignment of Epidiolex to Schedule V, which he said was “a better classification” than he expected.

“The favorable scheduling should enable a strong launch,” wrote Lebowitz, who maintained an Overweight rating on the biotech.

READ: GW Pharmaceuticals’cannabis drug for epilepsy coming to market faster after DEA lowers CBD restriction

Epidiolex, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2018 for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes in patients two years of age or older, is the first prescription pharmaceutical formulation of highly-purified, plant-derived cannabidiol, a cannabinoid lacking the high associated with marijuana, and the first in a new category of anti-epileptic drugs.

GW Pharmaceuticals said it was working hard to make Epidiolex available within the next six weeks.

Not surprisingly, there was industry excitement as the CBD in Epidiolex extracted from the cannabis plant is the first FDA-approved drug to contain a purified extract from the plant.

Industry exults

Isodiol International Inc (CSE:ISOL, OTCQB: ISOLF) hailed the DEA decision on GW Pharmaceutical’s Epidiolex saying it stood to benefit from the positive move.

“We believe this rescheduling of CBD places Isodiol among the best positioned companies in the market, if not in the best position, to take advantage of the increasing demand for high-quality, API-grade CBD,” stated Marcos Agramont, Isodiol International, Inc. CEO.

Isodiol’s subsidiary, BSPG Laboratories Ltd’s UK facility has received approval from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to manufacture pure, natural CBD as an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), for use in finished pharmaceutical products.

“Isodiol is one of the only companies in the world that can supply CBD that meets the standards of the clinical studies being recognized by the DEA and FDA. We are pleased with the DEA’s latest progress in helping get API-grade CBD into the US pharmaceutical market,” added Agramont.

GW Pharmaceuticals stock climbed 0.44% to $175.27.

Contact Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive 

Story by ProactiveInvestors