The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new nasal spray to treat depression. The nasal spray, called Spratto, is being manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and is approved as a standalone treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).

MDD is one of the most common mental disorders.

The company said the nasal spray is a ketamine-derived drug, first approved in 2019, to be used in combination with antidepressants, and later for patients experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions. Was.

“Now that it is also available as a monotherapy, healthcare providers have the freedom to further individualize treatment plans based on individual needs,” Gregory Mattingly, founding partner of St. Charles Psychiatric Associates, said in a statement.

In the first nine months of 2024, Spratto generated sales of $780 million.

According to the company, the approval is based on a study in which participants showed faster and better improvement in the severity of depressive episodes compared to placebo.

The company said more than a fifth of patients who took Spratto recovered.

“Treatment-resistant depression can be very complex, especially for patients who do not respond to oral antidepressants or cannot tolerate them. For too long, healthcare providers have had little time to offer patients the symptom improvement they need. There were some choices to make,” said Bill Martin, Global. Clinical Area Head, Neuroscience, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicines.

Spravato has helped patients experience improvement in depressive symptoms in as little as 24 hours and as little as 28 days – without the need for daily oral antidepressant medications.

The nasal spray works by targeting a neurotransmitter called glutamate, which is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. However, the mechanism by which esketamine (the main ingredient in Spratto) exerts its antidepressant effects is unknown.

The study was conducted for more than a decade and the drug has been on the market for about six years.