“Impressive so far”, is the verdict of one leading City broker, referring to the progress of GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:GWP, NASDAQ:GWPH) and the results from its lead drug for a childhood epilepsy.
Numis, in a note, repeated its 835p valuation of stock in the druggie, which is at the cutting edge of cannabis-derived medicines.
The shares ended the week at 838.5p, up 20%.
The driver? GW unveiled more pointers to the efficacy of Epidolex, for childhood seizures.
Numis analyst Paul Cuddon called it “the most convincing ”data so far.
It is expected GW will make a new drug application early next year.
Earlier this month investors were put on bid alert after a report suggest the company had multiple potential suitors.
The Reuters story also said GW had appointed Wall Street heavyweight Morgan Stanley to oversee the potential beauty parade.
The interest was very firmly rooted around Epidiolex, which analysts reckon has the potential to deliver annual sales of around US$800mln.
The identities of the potential suitors were unknown.
However, the big beasts in this sphere of the drugs market are Novartis (ETX:NOVN), Bayer (ETR:BAYN) and Almirall (BME:ALM).
Numis, in an earlier broker note, reckoned Lundbeck (CPH:LUN), Otsuka (TYO:4578) and Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) might also be in the running.
In the year to date the stock has advanced 102%, buoyed by some encouraging headline results from a phase III clinical trial of Epidiolex.
On the back of that the company was able to raise £190mln from US investors to bankroll the further development of its lead product.
Valued at £2.4bn, GW is AIM’s third largest company.