156 Improvement in Disease Severity in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression Following Treatment With Intranasal Esketamine
CNS Spectrums February 1, 2018 Abigail I. Nash, M. Shawi, Jaskaran Singh et al.
In a post-hoc analysis of a Phase 2a clinical trial, adults with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder who had not responded to at least two prior antidepressants received twice-weekly intranasal esketamine (28 mg, 56 mg, or 84 mg) or placebo for one week. At all doses, patients reported a one-point average improvement on the Patient Global Impression Severity scale, while placebo patients reported no change. Clinician ratings on the Clinical Global Impression Severity scale similarly improved for esketamine groups but not for placebo. These results suggest that esketamine can produce clinically meaningful improvement in depression symptoms within one week, as reported by both clinicians and patients, consistent with prior findings using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale.