July Medical Cannabis Headlines & Sector Update
July 20, 2026 | IN NEWS | BY Kate Thorpe
Each month, we bring together the key news stories shaping the medical cannabis landscape in the UK and beyond.
This month’s medical cannabis headlines reflect a sector expanding in scale, evidence and international reach. Key developments include the first European market approvals for Exilby® in chronic lower back pain, encouraging findings from a large UK survey of mental health patients, new insights into who is prescribing CBPMs in England, the first legal prescriptions issued in Ukraine, and projections that the UK patient population could exceed 140,000 by the end of 2026.
Exilby receives first European market approvals for chronic back pain
After more than a decade in development, a full-spectrum cannabis extract has received market authorisation in Germany and Austria, with UK approval expected by the end of the year.
Developed by German biopharmaceutical company Vertanical, Exilby® (also known as VER-01) will now be prescribed for the treatment of chronic lower back pain with a neuropathic component, and is expected to be eligible for reimbursement in line with national processes.
It comes following two randomised, controlled Phase 3 trials completed last year, in which the drug was found to reduce pain more effectively than opioids and with greater tolerability.
98% of mental health patients report improvement from medical cannabis
The largest multi-clinic patient survey of its kind in the UK gathered responses from 6,282 patients across the clinics Mamedica, Alternaleaf, CB1 Medical, and Curaleaf. In a 5,128-patient sub-cohort of those who were prescribed the treatment for anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 97.6% reported improvement in symptoms, whilst 92.3% reported better sleep, and 93.5% said their ability to function day to day had improved. Commenting on the findings, Prof Mike Barnes said the data is “too substantial to set aside”.
New data on prescribers of CBPMs
This month, the MCCS provided crucial context and insight for an in-depth report by Business of Cannabis, looking at the data behind medical cannabis prescribing in England. In March, The Times published a story based on an FOI request, in which we were also quoted, which claimed just 10 doctors were prescribing half of all CBMPs.
New data has now shed light on the breakdown of the ‘prescriber type’ for all 1.54m items prescribed in the last six years. Nine of the 10 highest-volume prescribers in the dataset are pharmacist independent prescribers. Only the single highest-volume identifier, responsible for 172,755 items, 11.2% of the all-time total, is a doctor.
Ukrainian patients receive first medical cannabis prescriptions
Two years on from the legalisation of medical cannabis in Ukraine, a war veteran and an MS patient have received the first legal prescriptions for cannabis-based medicines. The Ministry of Health has estimated that up to six million people may be eligible for treatment. Currently, only oral administration formats are approved for prescription by primary care doctors and specialised care physicians, and can be obtained through selected pharmacies, for a range of conditions.
UK patient numbers set to reach 140,000 in 2026
The number of patients being prescribed medical cannabis in the UK is expected to surpass 140,000 by the end of the year, as imports of the medicine and the range of products available to patients both doubled in 2025, according to a new report from Prohibition Partners. Over 30,000kg of medical cannabis was imported into the UK in 2025, and the number of CBPMs available to UK patients more than doubled.
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