Johnson and Johnson's nasal spray approved to treat actively suicidal people

As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has also raised concerns over the mental health of people, Johnson & Johnson-developed nasal spray, Spravato has been approved as the first antidepressant for actively suicidal people in the United States. As per Bloomberg report, vice president of J&J’s US neuroscience medical-affairs unit has said that the US Food and Drug Administration’s nod implies that the rapid-acting nasal spray will be available for the people who have suicidal thoughts and a plan to act on them. This reportedly makes up at least 11 to 12 per cent of as many as 17 million Americans who have a severe depressive disorder. 

Spravato has been already used by nearly 6,000 people for the treatment-resistant depression since its approval back on March 5, 2019. J&J’s decision of trying the nasal spray on depressed people actively considering the option of suicide defied the common trend of drugmakers to exclude such patients from such trials. Part of the thinking behind the decision of US Food and Drug Administration is Spravato’s ability to act swiftly that can also mean that the nasal spray works differently than the previous anti-depressants that take weeks to show results. 

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Spravato swiftly reduces severity in thinking

In the studies conducted by J&J, it was found that those who got the drug had a fast reduction in the severity of their thinking. However, these results did not vary in a statistically significant manner from patients who were given a placebo. Gerard Sanacora, director of Yale's Depression Research Program and a trial investigator has said that the data from the studies of the drug reveal that it might offer clinicians a brand new way of providing assistance to patients swiftly amid an urgent depressive episode and further help them proceed towards the path to remission. 

According to reports, the United States has been in the throes of a suicide crisis even before the coronavirus outbreak rocked the country. The suicide rate reportedly rose by 30 per cent from 1999 to 2016. Moreover, the stay-at-home orders to contain the spread of the COVID-19 restricted the number of people given the spray as a depression treatment in-person at specified centres. Ultimately, with time these numbers stabilised, Kramer said. 

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Image: JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.