Johnson & Johnson develops first antidepressant nasal spray for actively suicidal people; here is how it works

While the novel coronavirus pandemic may have brought the inefficient and ill-prepared health care system on its knees in most countries, it has also taught us invaluable lessons in dealing with the consequences of the pandemic--especially those pertaining to our mental health. The fears of a ravaging illness, the strict lockdowns across the globe and adapting to the new normal of face masks, sanitizers and social distancing can wreak havoc on those already battling mental health conditions.

Keeping the pandemic’s widespread impact on people’s mental health in mind, Johnson & Johnson has developed an antidepressant nasal spray for actively suicidal people. The first of its kind, quick-acting nasal spray has already been given the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, as per the Michelle Kramer, who is the vice president of J&J's U.S. neuroscience medical-affairs unit.

According to a report in Bloomberg, the nasal spray ‘Spravato’ has already been used by 6000 people with treatment-resistant depression after receiving regulatory approvals in March 2019. Spravato will be available for those actively battling suicidal thoughts, which includes 11 to 12 per cent of as many as 17 million Americans, who are suffering from a major depressive disorder.

As per the study, volunteers who received the nasal spray marked a rapid reduction in the severity of their thinking, although the results did not differ in a statistically significant way from the patients who were given a placebo.

The report further stated that Spravato had the ability to act quickly when compared to traditional antidepressants which take atleast a week’s time to register some impact and kick in. Gerard Sanacora, director of Yale's Depression Research highlighted nasal spray’s ability to quickly provide urgent support to patients who are undergoing a major depressive episode.

According to Bloomberg, Spravato is a close chemical cousin of the anesthetic ketamine, which differs from existing antidepressants because it acts on the glutamate system in the brain rather than on seratonin or norepinepherine. Scientists have been working to better understand how the drug helps patients and why it works so quickly.