Rigorous research, compelling data
Reached for comment, Roger S. McIntyre, MD, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology, University of Toronto, and head of the mood disorders psychopharmacology unit, said the data are “compelling with respect to efficacy and safety of subcutaneous ketamine in adults with major depression.”
Dr. Roger S. McIntyre
Dr. McIntyre said the data are “highly relevant” for several reasons. “First, it is the most rigorous study conducted to date with subcutaneous administration of ketamine for adults living with treatment-resistant depression.”
Second, it “demonstrates the efficacy and safety of this route of delivery, which until now has not been studied with this level of rigor and which is a more scalable and accessible approach to administer ketamine to suitable candidates,” Dr. McIntyre said.
The study was funded by a competitive research grant from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Dr. Loo has disclosed relationships with Douglas Pharmaceuticals and Janssen Cilag and is the medical director of neurostimulation and interventional psychiatry at Ramsay Health Care. Dr. McIntyre has received speaker/consultation fees from Lundbeck, Janssen, Alkermes, Neumora Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sage, Biogen, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Purdue, Pfizer, Otsuka, Takeda, Neurocrine, Sunovion, Bausch Health, Axsome, Novo Nordisk, Kris, Sanofi, Eisai, Intra-Cellular, NewBridge Pharmaceuticals, Viatris, AbbVie, and Atai Life Sciences. Dr. McIntyre is a CEO of Braxia Scientific Corp.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.