Depression Therapy With Party-Drug Roots Faces FDA Panel Review
- Johnson & Johnson drug primed for advisory hearing next week
- Agency staff raise questions about abuse potential, risk curbs
A syringe sits in a bottle of Ketamine.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Potential for abuse and strategies for containing any risks from an experimental depression treatment from Johnson & Johnson will be in focus at an Food and Drug Administration panel next week.
J&J’s nasal spray, esketamine, a close cousin of the party drug ketamine, will be considered by an FDA advisory panel on Feb. 12. While agency staff seemed satisfied that the likelihood of abuse is low, they raised questions about safety issues connected to a dreamlike sensation the medication can create in some users.