As GW Pharmaceuticals headed toward final-stage testing of a cannabis-based treatment for epilepsy last year, the British company faced the inevitable question: Should it remain independent or team up with a larger player to develop and market the product? Chief Executive Officer Justin Gover chose to go it alone. Since January 2014, GW has raised $415 million in a series of offerings on Nasdaq, enough capital to finish developing the drug and sell it with an in-house team. The stock has almost tripled since then, giving the company a market value of $2.5 billion. The decision was "a statement of ambition," Gover says. "Our investors actively encouraged us to ensure that we would be able to deliver on that ambition for the company as an independent one."
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