Experts with long experience in treating depression were encouraged by the news, but also chary. And the results of esketamine trials, which were paid for and carried out by Janssen, were mixed. In each trial submitted, all patients were started on a new antidepressant drug, and given a course of esketamine treatment or a placebo. But in two others trials, the drug did not statistically outperform placebo treatment. All the subjects had been given a diagnosis of treatment-resistant depression, or T.R.D., having previously failed multiple courses of drug treatment.

Source: New York Times March 06, 2019 00:56 UTC