Japan unit of Britain's Jazz Pharma starts phase III trial of cannabis drug

TOKYO - The Japanese unit of Britain's Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC said on Thursday it had started a phase III trial of a cannabis-based drug for epilepsy.

The trial follows a recommendation by a health ministry panel in September to revise Japan's drug laws to allow for the importation and use of medical marijuana products.

Jazz's GW Pharma said it had administered the first dose to a patient in a late-stage trial expected to involve 84 participants, testing the efficacy and safety of the drug, Epidiolex.

Epidiolex has been approved for use in Britain and the United States and is used to treat seizures associated with severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.