London, 10 July, 2007 – The life sciences team in the London office of Morrison & Foerster has advised AIM-listed GW Pharmaceuticals plc on an agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.  The global cannabinoid research collaboration in the field of Central Nervous System (CNS) and oncology will enable the parties to jointly research, develop and commercialise a range of candidate cannabinoid products.

The cannabinoid research collaboration has an initial term of three years, during which Otsuka will make available a research fund of $9 million, which may be increased from time to time by Otsuka, to cover research activities carried out by GW and its scientific collaborators under this agreement.

The GW-Otsuka collaboration research team, which incorporates senior scientists from both companies, will evaluate a range of GW cannabinoids as drug candidates within the field of CNS and oncology, with a view to selecting the most promising candidates for full clinical development, regulatory approval and global commercialisation. Products selected for full development will be the subject of a license from GW. Under the terms of each product license, Otsuka will fund the global development and commercialisation of such products, and GW will receive license fees, milestone payments and a long term commercial supply price and royalty. The financial terms of each license are to be agreed at the time of selection of each product for global development.

The London team advising GW included partner Julian Thurston, and associates James Ryan and Tara Sherbrooke.  Global antitrust advice was provided by Aki Bayz (of counsel) and Matthew Sikes (associate) in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

Mr Thurston commented, “This is the third strategic partnering agreement we’ve done with GW in the last 18 months and we’re delighted to have worked with the company to sign yet another successful deal.  In February of this year we worked with GW on a $273 million agreement to grant Otsuka an exclusive license to develop and market Sativex®, GW’s lead product, in the United States; while in December of 2005, we advised GW on a collaboration with Spanish pharmaceutical company, Almirall Prodesfarma, S.A. to market Sativex® in Europe (excluding the UK).”