Epidiolex’s makers are now looking very smart as the CBD boom fizzles out.
GW Pharmaceuticals, and later Jazz Pharmaceuticals as its parent company, were a long way from being part of the CBD craze which swept around the globe. While other companies rushed in to wellness products, GW took a slower and more expensive approach based around pharmaceutical regulations, aggressive lobbying and clinical trials.
Cannabis-based treatment is available from the company.
Epidyolex (spelled Epidiolex in the United States) and Sativex, which operate inside tightly controlled medical frameworks rather than consumer channels, have been on the market in Europe and the U.S. – legally – for years.
Recalibrating
Investors once imagined a fully mainstream market for CBD, but it is not likely to happen in the near future. Instead, the market appears headed toward a future that is narrower, more controlled and significantly smaller – led by the pharma subsector.
This means that the future CBD markets in Europe are less defined by brands of consumer products and more by health care distribution networks, pharmaceutical production standards, and product developments that focus on clinically-oriented, expensive niche products for rare diseases.
Non-pharma
Due to the strict approach of EU and UK food authorities in regards to CBD, it is likely that non-pharma wellness CBD will survive as low-dose formulations which have limited appeal. These products could be used as a front for gray-market CBD that is sold at higher doses, but outside of the legal limits.
THIS SERIES
• PART 1: UK food safety regulations could force thousands of CBD-based products into extinction
• PART 2.The CBD bottleneck in Europe tightens, as the UK’s regulatory pathway stagnates before EU handover
• The Third PartAs the novel food processing process transforms the market, Europe’s CBD victims are increasing.
• PART 4Pharma products are poised to take over Europe’s CBD market, which is shrinking and tightly regulated
The fragmented and inconsistent national enforcement has allowed CBD markets in Europe to function for a long time on ambiguous ground. It is not likely that this dynamic will disappear, particularly where there are countries without the necessary resources and political appetite to pursue aggressive enforcement.
Analysts in Europe expect that both the grey and legal markets of CBD for wellbeing to be small.
Medical = niche
Jazz has surpassed the total CBD market, which is estimated to be only a few hundred million dollars.
Epidiolex & Sativex were the first modern-day medicines to be sold in Europe & other regulated markets. Sativex and Epidiolex are 50/50 CBD-only drugs, while the former is CBD only.
The niche cannabis market is expected to expand as European and UK regulators tighten their grip on CBD wellness products and marijuana-based medicines become more mainstream.
Cosmetics questions
The cosmetics industry may be a limited channel of survival for CBD products in Europe, as topical products do not have the same novel food issues that are associated with ingestible CBD products.
Even this category is a source of uncertainty, as European regulators also review CBD under the frameworks for chemicals and cosmetics. Ongoing debates about whether CBD can harm fetal or reproductive development may limit its use or even eliminate it in personal care products.
Who will survive?
After years of uncertainty, rising compliance costs, and delays in the UK’s and EU’s food safety approval pathway, smaller brands are already disappearing as Europe narrows its CBD route.
CBD is a major part of European culture. Its role, as well as its paths and economics will be less than what many had anticipated.
Companies with significant financial resources, pharmaceutical-grade production systems and established drug and medical marijuana companies will be able to incorporate CBD into their therapeutic product portfolios.