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 The multiple sclerosis treatment, an oral spray derived from
marijuana and developed by Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, is
known as Sativex internationally and will be sold in Brazil under
the brand name Mevatyl.
The legal status of cannabis-based drugs has been a thorny issue in
Brazil for years, with several patients fighting in the courts to
circumvent prohibition. Anvisa has loosened some restrictions in the
past two years, allowing patients with medical orders to personally
import some drugs derived from marijuana.
GW Pharmaceuticals, founded in 1998 to explore the medical potential
of marijuana, has emerged as a takeover target for larger
pharmaceutical companies after recent breakthroughs on the
cannabis-based epilepsy treatment Epidolex.
São Paulo-based Beaufour Ipsen Farmacêutica Ltda will hold the
Brazilian distribution license for Sativex, which is already sold in
28 other countries, according to Anvisa.
Brazil decriminalized growing and possessing small amounts of
marijuana and other drugs more than a decade ago, but buying and
selling remains illegal.
Drug trafficking, particularly from the world's top two cocaine
producers, Colombia and Peru, remains a major security and
healthcare concern in Brazil.
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In 2013, neighboring Uruguay became the first country to legalize
cultivation, distribution and consumption of marijuana, seeking to
wrest the business from criminals in the small South American
nation.
(Reporting by Bruno Federowski and Eduardo Simões; Writing by Bruno
Federowski; Editing by Alan Crosby)
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