New England Journal of Medicine
October 4, 2023
Andreas Reif, Istvan Bitter, Jozefien Buyze et al.
197 citations
In treatment-resistant depression, esketamine nasal spray combined with an SSRI or SNRI led to remission in 27.1% of patients at week 8, compared to 17.6% for extended-release quetiapine plus an SSRI or SNRI. Over 32 weeks, 21.7% of patients on esketamine had no relapse after remission versus 14.1% on quetiapine. The open-label, single-blind, randomized trial included 676 patients. Adverse events matched known safety profiles. Esketamine was superior to quetiapine for achieving remission and preventing relapse.
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
April 1, 2025
Eduard Vieta, Nahida Ahmed, Celso Arango et al.
12 citations
Patients with treatment-resistant depression who received esketamine nasal spray experienced 43.2% more weeks with functional remission over 32 weeks compared to those taking quetiapine extended release, a difference of 2.0 weeks. Esketamine also led to an 11.9% reduction in productivity loss due to absenteeism and a 14.2% reduction in overall work productivity loss. Both treatments were taken alongside an ongoing SSRI or SNRI. The findings suggest that esketamine provides greater improvements in daily functioning and workplace productivity for this patient group.
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
February 1, 2025
Allan H Young, Pierre-Michel Llorca, Andrea Fagiolini et al.
7 citations
In people with treatment-resistant depression, esketamine nasal spray outperformed quetiapine extended release across multiple measures. Sensitivity analyses using different definitions of remission and relapse consistently favored esketamine, with relative risks for the primary endpoint ranging from 1.462 to 1.737 and for the key secondary endpoint from 1.417 to 1.838. Esketamine also shortened time to first remission by 71% and confirmed remission by 66%. The robustness of the original ESCAPE-TRD trial findings was confirmed.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
October 31, 2023
Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Benoit Rive, Joachim Morrens et al.
6 citations
An adjusted indirect comparison of treatment strategies for treatment-resistant depression found that esketamine nasal spray plus an antidepressant led to a higher probability of response (49.7%) and remission (33.6%) at six months compared with real-world polypharmacy strategies (26.8% response, 19.4% remission). Esketamine was about 1.86 times as likely to produce a response and 1.74 times as likely to produce remission. Threshold and sensitivity analyses indicated these results were robust to potential unmeasured confounders.
Frontiers in psychiatry
January 1, 2024
Albino J Oliveira-Maia, Benoit Rive, Yordan Godinov et al.
3 citations
About 10-30% of people with major depressive disorder have treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and most do not respond to real-world treatments. An indirect comparison of two studies found that after six months, patients with TRD who received esketamine nasal spray plus an antidepressant had a 25.6% probability of achieving functional remission, measured by a Sheehan Disability Scale score of 6 or less, compared to an adjusted 11.5% probability for those receiving real-world treatments. This represents a relative risk of 2.226. Across both groups, patients who did not achieve clinical response or remission had low probabilities of functional remission (5.84% and 8.76%, respectively), while those who did had higher probabilities (43.
Journal of comparative effectiveness research
June 9, 2025
Kristin Clemens, Amanda Teeple, Benoit Rive et al.
Esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant costs less per patient who achieves remission than quetiapine extended release plus an oral antidepressant for adults with treatment-resistant depression. Over 32 weeks, 50% of those taking esketamine plus an antidepressant achieved remission, compared with 33% taking quetiapine plus an antidepressant. The cost-per-remitter was $3,102 lower for esketamine in a commercial insurance setting and $456 lower in a Medicaid setting. In a scenario where non-responders switched to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, the cost savings were larger: $15,134 lower commercially and $12,488 lower for Medicaid. The authors suggest esketamine plus an antidepressant is a cost-effective option.