Managing Esketamine Treatment Frequency Toward Successful Outcomes: Analysis of Phase 3 Data
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology April 7, 2020 Michel Nijs, Ewa Wajs, Leah Aluisio et al. 21 citations
For patients with treatment-resistant depression, adjusting how often they use esketamine nasal spray based on their symptoms can help maintain or improve treatment response. In an open-label study of 778 patients, those who responded to twice-weekly esketamine during a 4-week induction phase then had their treatment frequency reduced to weekly. After four weeks of weekly treatment, 26% of 580 responders continued to improve, 50% maintained benefit, and 24% worsened. When frequency was further reduced to every other week, 19% improved, 49% maintained benefit, and 32% worsened. For patients who lost remission after reducing frequency, increasing back to weekly led to 47% improving, 43% staying the same, and 10% worsening. These results suggest that personalizing esketamine treatment frequency can optimize outcomes.