From cannabis to medicines

Ask what the product is

The useful question is not simply whether something contains cannabis or CBD. It is what the product contains, how it is made, how it is administered, who it has been studied in and what its evidence supports.

Four product categories
Category	How to interpret it
Licensed medicine	A particular product has an authorisation covering specified uses and conditions; check the current local label.
Unlicensed medicinal product	Medicinal supply can occur through a specific framework, but this is not a marketing authorisation proving efficacy for each use.
Investigational medicine	A product being studied; trial activity does not itself establish benefit.
Consumer CBD product	A commercial product category; it should not be treated as equivalent to a tested medicine.

Sources: MHRA: unlicensed medicines, NHS England: CBPMs

UK examples

These examples show why the distinctions matter. Each describes a particular product and its UK indication.

A CBD medicine

Epidyolex

The UK product information lists Epidyolex as an add-on treatment for seizures associated with Lennox–Gastaut or Dravet syndrome, together with clobazam, and for seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex, in patients aged 2 years and older.

Sources: Epidyolex SmPC

A THC and CBD oromucosal spray

Sativex

For symptom improvement in adults with moderate to severe spasticity due to multiple sclerosis who have not responded adequately to other anti-spasticity medicines and who show clinically significant improvement during an initial trial of treatment.

Sources: Sativex SmPC

A synthetic cannabinoid

Nabilone

For nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy that has not responded adequately to conventional anti-sickness treatments. NHS England groups nabilone with synthetic cannabinoids that are structurally related to THC, rather than identical to it.

Sources: Nabilone SmPC, NHS England: CBPMs

These examples describe particular products and indications. They do not establish cannabis as a treatment for every condition, or transfer an approval to NWPT-SM32300.

Read an evidence claim in six steps

Which molecule or mixture?
Which formulation and route?
Which population and condition?
Compared with what?
Which outcome, over how long?
What benefit, harm and uncertainty were found?

Four different questions, shown separately

Published studies, regulatory authorisations, clinical guidelines and legal access answer different questions. They should be read separately rather than combined into one “approved” label.

Published studiesWhat was found, in whom, compared with what.
Regulatory authorisationWhich product may be marketed, for which uses.
Clinical guidelinesWhat is recommended in care, and for whom.
Legal accessHow a product can be supplied or obtained.

Our programme. NWPT-SM32300 is investigational. General cannabinoid research does not establish that it is effective. The Programme Room explains what has been studied, what is planned and what remains unknown; the NWPT formulation section explains what the formulation is designed to do and what has been measured.