Here’s how the FDA’s review of epilepsy drug could affect CBD companies

 (This is an abridged version of a story that appears at Hemp Industry Daily.)

It’s shaping up to be a watershed summer for the cannabis industry with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration poised to approve the first drug made from the plant.

The agency’s impending decision on Epidiolex, an epilepsy treatment made of CBD extracted from cannabis flower, could upend decades of government insistence that the plant has no medicinal value.

British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals is seeking FDA approval to sell the drug in the United States.

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Before the decision on Epidiolex is released this summer, the FDA is convening a panel of independent experts on the nervous system to review the drug, a signal that the agency intends to take a cautious approach before approving a cannabis drug aimed at children.

The panel is conducting a public hearing Thursday to review the evidence.

Several cannabis businesses shared their thoughts about the situation with Hemp Industry Daily.

Click here to read their five things to watch for in Thursday’s landmark FDA hearing:

• How it’s made
• Availability
• Rescheduling
• Food
• Patents