Geoffrey Guy

{{Short description|British pharmacologist, physician, businessman and academic}}

{{about|the pharmacologist|the civil servant|Geoffrey Colin Guy}}

{{Infobox medical person

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Geoffrey Guy

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| image = Geoffrey Guy.jpg

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| caption = Geoffrey Guy at the Royal Society of Medicine (2024)

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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}}

| birth_place = Stanmore, Middlesex, England

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| nationality = British

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| education = *St Peter's School, Bournemouth

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| known_for = Co-founder GW Pharmaceuticals

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| research_field = *Opiates

Cannabinoids

| notable_works = The Medicinal Uses of Cannabis and Cannabinoids (2004)

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}}

Geoffrey William Guy (born 1954) is a British pharmacologist, physician, businessman and academic, who co-founded GW Pharmaceuticals and has developed treatments using compounds found in cannabis, which are the first cannabis-based medicines approved by and available on the British National Health Service (NHS).

In the 1980s and 1990s he was successful in the opiate painkiller business, and held appointments at the Laboratoires Pierre Fabre and the Napp laboratories. He was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, and has authored, contributed to and edited over 200 clinical studies and several books including The Medicinal Uses of Cannabis and Cannabinoids (2004).

Early life and education

Geoffrey Guy was born in 1954 in Stanmore, Middlesex, the only son and the youngest of three of a hospital administrator and his wife, a trainee nurse. Until age 13, he lived in Christchurch, Dorset, before moving to Barton on Sea.{{cite book |last1=Guy |first1=Geoffrey |title=A Worthwhile Medicine: How the World's First Cannabis-Based Medication Was Approved |date=2021 |publisher=Profile Books|isbn=978-1-78816-763-5 |location=London|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVPGzQEACAAJ&pg=PA19 |language=en|chapter= 2. Learning medicine|pages=19–51}}Crowther S. M, Reynolds L. A, Tansey E. M. (eds) (2010) [http://www.histmodbiomed.org/sites/default/files/44870.pdf The medicalization of cannabis], Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine, vol. 40. London: The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. ISBN 978 085484 129 5. p.91 During his teens, he attended St Peter's School in Bournemouth, played rugby and was a member of the Air Training Corps.

Following A levels at a sixth form college near Brockenhurst, Guy gained admission to study medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in pharmacology from the University of London in 1976. In 1979, he gained a medical degree from St Bartholomew's and in the same year completed his MRCS Eng., LRCP, and LMSSA of the Society of Apothecaries. In 1984 he gained a Diploma of Pharmaceutical Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians.

Career

Guy began his career in the pharmaceutics industry in 1980 and became successful in the opiate painkiller business.Crowther S. M, Reynolds L. A, Tansey E. M. (eds) (2010) [http://www.histmodbiomed.org/sites/default/files/44870.pdf The medicalization of cannabis], Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine, vol. 40. London: The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL.

ISBN 978 085484 129 5. pp.30–40{{cite book |last1=Mills |first1=James H. |title=Cannabis Nation: Control and Consumption in Britain, 1928–2008 |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-928342-2 |pages=202–203 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=coRbCf69V3UC&pg=PA202 |language=en |chapter=8. 'I have decided to reclassify cannabis, subject to parliamentary approval': legislators, law-enforcers, campaigns and classification. 1997 -2008}} From 1981 to 1983, he served as international clinical research co-ordinator at Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, where his research involved seeking out active ingredients in plants for the purpose of developing medicines. It led to the concept that there could be ingredients in the same plant that acted in opposition to each other.

From 1983 to 1985 he was director of clinical development at the Napp laboratories in Cambridge, where he worked on several opiates, including developing the slow-release morphine, morphine sulphate. He also worked to develop a medicine from a ten-component Chinese medicine, to treat atopic eczema. In 1985 he founded Ethical Holdings plc. In 1990, he co-founded the plant-medicines company that became Phytopharm plc, and became its chairman until 1997.{{cite book |title=GW Pharmaceuticals plc |url=https://ir.gwpharm.com/static-files/da05bdcc-ea79-4d80-aebd-185ef783bea1|page=10}}

In 1998, he co-founded GW Pharmaceuticals with Brian Whittle.{{cite book |last1=Ahrens |first1=Dan |title=Investing in Cannabis: The Next Great Investment Opportunity |date=2021 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |isbn=978-1-119-69101-3 |page=151 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJz9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |language=en |chapter=13. Pharmaceutical and biotech}} He obtained a licence from the UK Home Office to conduct research on compounds found in cannabis that might be useful as medicines.{{cite book |last1=Iversen |first1=Leslie L. |title=The Science of Marijuana |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-513123-1 |pages=10–11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T1Xeir8wu8wC&pg=PR10 |language=en}} The first plants were grown in 1998 at a climate-controlled greenhouse in Southern England and clinical trials began the following year. Some insights into how this came about were later recounted in a witness seminar organised by the Wellcome Trust.{{cite web |title=The Medicalization of Cannabis {{!}} The History of Modern Biomedicine |url=http://www.histmodbiomed.org/witsem/vol40.html |website=www.histmodbiomed.org |access-date=24 July 2021}} His company was the first to obtain regulatory approval for a medicine based on cannabis.{{cite news |last1=Scialom |first1=Mike |title=GW Pharmaceuticals wins Queen's Award as cannabinoid treatments proliferate |url=https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/business/gw-pharmaceuticals-wins-queen-s-award-as-cannabinoid-treatme-9197370/ |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=Cambridge Independent |date=29 April 2021 |language=en}} In June 2010, GW launched sativex in the UK, the world's first fully approved cannabis-based medicine.{{cite web |last1=Elvidge |first1=Suzanne |title=The Challenges Of Bringing A Cannabis-Based Drug To Market |url=https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/doc/the-challenges-of-bringing-a-cannabis-based-0001 |website=www.pharmaceuticalonline.com |access-date=3 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803050215/https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/doc/the-challenges-of-bringing-a-cannabis-based-0001 |archive-date=3 August 2021 |date=7 October 2010}} Licensed by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, it is a prescription-only medicine for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis.{{cite web |title=Geoffrey Guy, Chairman, GW Pharma |url=https://pharmaboardroom.com/interviews/interview-geoffrey-guy-chairman-founder-gw-pharmaceuticals-uk/ |website=PharmaBoardroom |access-date=18 July 2021 |date=4 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718192901/https://pharmaboardroom.com/interviews/interview-geoffrey-guy-chairman-founder-gw-pharmaceuticals-uk/|archive-date=18 July 2021}} Its principal active components are the cannabinoids tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) in a ratio of approximately 50:50.{{cite book|last1=Pertwee|first1=Roger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uu5wBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA288|title=Handbook of Cannabis|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-966268-5|location=Oxford|pages=287–288|language=en}} Later, GW initiated clinical trials of a cannabidiol solution for the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy in children; Lennox–Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. In 2018, the drug, under the brand name epidiolex, became the first cannabis-based medicine to obtain US Food and Drug Administration approval.{{cite news |title=FDA Approves First Drug {{sic|Comprised |hide=y|of}} an Active Ingredient Derived from Marijuana to Treat Rare, Severe Forms of Epilepsy |url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-drug-comprised-active-ingredient-derived-marijuana-treat-rare-severe-forms |access-date=11 August 2021 |work=FDA |date=27 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811042712/https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-drug-comprised-active-ingredient-derived-marijuana-treat-rare-severe-forms |archive-date=11 August 2021 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=EPIDIOLEX® (cannabidiol) Oral Solution – the First FDA-approved Plant-derived Cannabinoid Medicine – Now Available by Prescription in the U.S. {{!}} GW Pharmaceuticals |url=https://ir.gwpharm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/epidiolexr-cannabidiol-oral-solution-first-fda-approved-plant |access-date=11 August 2021 |work=ir.gwpharm.com |date=1 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202065952/https://ir.gwpharm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/epidiolexr-cannabidiol-oral-solution-first-fda-approved-plant |archive-date=2 December 2020 |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=Rubin |first1=Rita |title=The Path to the First FDA-Approved Cannabis-Derived Treatment and What Comes Next |journal=JAMA |date=25 September 2018 |volume=320 |issue=12 |pages=1227–1229 |doi=10.1001/jama.2018.11914 |pmid=30193358 |s2cid=205095819 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30193358/ |issn=1538-3598|url-access=subscription}} In 2019, both sativex and epidiolex were made available to patients under the UK National Health Service.{{cite news |title=Cannabis-based medicines: Two drugs approved for NHS |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50351868 |access-date=11 August 2021 |work=BBC News |date=11 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811044621/https://www.bbc.com/news/health-50351868 |archive-date=11 August 2021}}

In early 2021, it was announced that GW would be acquired by Dublin-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals for {{US$|7.2 billion}}.{{cite news |last1=Banerjee |first1=Ankur |last2=Khan |first2=Shariq |last3=Rebecca |first3=Spalding |title=Jazz Pharma to buy GW Pharma for $7.2 billion, adding cannabis-based drug to portfolio |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gw-pharma-m-a-jazz-pharms-idUSKBN2A31RM |access-date=6 August 2021 |work=Reuters |date=3 February 2021 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215506/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gw-pharma-m-a-jazz-pharms-idUSKBN2A31RM|archive-date=30 March 2021}} The deal was completed in May 2021,{{cite web |title=Jazz Pharmaceuticals Completes Acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals plc {{!}} Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc |url=https://investor.jazzpharma.com/news-releases/news-release-details/jazz-pharmaceuticals-completes-acquisition-gw-pharmaceuticals |website=investor.jazzpharma.com |access-date=6 August 2021 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806115000/https://investor.jazzpharma.com/news-releases/news-release-details/jazz-pharmaceuticals-completes-acquisition-gw-pharmaceuticals|archive-date=6 August 2021}} at which time Guy resigned from the chairmanship of the company.{{cite web |title=GW Pharmaceuticals Limited |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04160917/officers |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk |access-date=6 August 2021 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730193252/https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04160917/officers|archive-date=30 July 2021}}

Writing

Guy was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, and has contributed to at least six books and more than 200 clinical studies.{{cite web |title=University of Reading |url=https://www.reading.ac.uk/news-archive/press-releases/pr681951.html |website=University of Reading |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907104012/http://www.reading.ac.uk/news-archive/press-releases/pr681951.html |archive-date=7 September 2020 |language=en-uk}}

In 2004 he was co-editor of The Medicinal Uses of Cannabis and Cannabinoids.{{cite web |last1=Whipple-Guthrie |first1=Ellen |title=The Medicinal of Cannabis and Cannabinoids |url=https://www.mscare.org/page/BookReview2004e |website=mscare.org |access-date=19 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811040443/https://www.mscare.org/page/BookReview2004e|archive-date=11 August 2021}} In 2006, he co-authored a paper titled "A tale of two cannabinoids" which compared the use of CBD and THC.

Awards and honours

In 2011 Guy was recipient of the Deloitte Director of the Year Award in Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare. In the same year he was appointed as visiting professor in the School of Science and Medicine at the University of Buckingham.{{cite web |title=Geoffrey Guy |url=https://ir.gwpharm.com/executive-directors/geoffrey-guy |website=ir.gwpharm.com |access-date=3 August 2021 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811040701/https://ir.gwpharm.com/executive-directors/geoffrey-guy|archive-date=11 August 2021}} In 2016, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Reading and was also appointed visiting professor at the University of Westminster.

Other roles

Guy is on the board of trustees for Leweston School.{{cite web |title=Leweston School Trust |url=https://scoriff.co.uk/company/02041443-LEWESTON-SCHOOL-TRUST |website=scoriff.co.uk |access-date=19 July 2021}}

Selected publications

=Books=

{{cite book |last1=Guy |first1=Geoffrey William |last2=Whittle |first2=Brian Anthony |last3=Robson |first3=Philip |title=The Medicinal Uses of Cannabis and Cannabinoids |date=2004 |publisher=Pharmaceutical Press |isbn=978-0-85369-517-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AznCzOxvrtwC |language=en}}
{{cite book |last1=Guy |first1=Geoffrey |title=A Worthwhile Medicine: How the World's First Cannabis-Based Medication Was Approved |date=2021 |publisher=Profile Books|isbn=978-1-78816-763-5 |location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVPGzQEACAAJ |language=en}}

=Articles=

{{cite journal |title=Prospects for New Cannabis-Based Prescription Medicines |journal=Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics |date=1 June 2001 |volume=1 |issue=3–4 |pages=183–205 |doi=10.1300/J175v01n03_12 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J175v01n03_12 |issn=1529-9775|last1=Whittle |first1=Brian A. |last2=Guy |first2=Geoffrey W. |last3=Robson |first3=Philip |url-access=subscription }} (Co-authored)
{{cite journal |title=A tale of two cannabinoids: the therapeutic rationale for combining tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol |journal=Medical Hypotheses |date=2006 |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=234–246 |doi=10.1016/j.mehy.2005.08.026 |pmid=16209908 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16209908/ |language=en |issn=0306-9877|last1=Russo |first1=Ethan |last2=Guy |first2=Geoffrey W. }} (Co-authored)
{{cite journal |title=Cannabis, Pain, and Sleep: Lessons from Therapeutic Clinical Trials of Sativex®, a Cannabis-Based Medicine |journal=Chemistry & Biodiversity |date=2007 |volume=4 |issue=8 |pages=1729–1743 |doi=10.1002/cbdv.200790150 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cbdv.200790150 |language=en |issn=1612-1880|last1=Russo |first1=Ethan B. |last2=Guy |first2=Geoffrey W. |last3=Robson |first3=Philip J. |pmid=17712817 |s2cid=38580755 |url-access=subscription }} (Co-authored)
{{cite journal |title=The quantum mitochondrion and optimal health |journal=Biochemical Society Transactions |date=15 August 2016 |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=1101–1110 |doi=10.1042/BST20160096 |pmid=27528758 |issn=0300-5127|pmc=5264502 |last1=Nunn |first1=Alistair V.W. |last2=Guy |first2=Geoffrey W. |last3=Bell |first3=Jimmy D. }} (Co-authored)