The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is approving Johnson & Johnson's nasal spray anti-depressant for people resistant to other treatments. The approval of nasal spray "esketamine" is the first new type of treatment for depression in more than 30 years and has raised hopes for its relatively fast action and ability to treat some otherwise unreachable patients.
“Spravato has the potential to change the treatment paradigm and offer new hope to the estimated one-third of people with major depressive disorder who have not responded to existing therapies,” said Mathai Mammen, global head of J&J’s Janssen Research & Development. The treatment carries the FDA’s harshest warning telling users of the risk for sedation and difficulty with attention, judgment and thinking, abuse and misuse, and suicidal thoughts after administration of the drug.