"In Biggest Advance for Depression in Years, FDA Approves Novel Treatment for Hardest Cases" - Carolyn Y. Johnson and Laurie McGinley
The Food and Drug Administration approved a novel antidepressant Tuesday for people with depression that do not respond to other treatments — the first in decades to work in a completely new way in the brain. The drug, a nasal spray called esketamine, has been eagerly anticipated by psychiatrists and patient groups as a powerful new tool to fight intractable depression. In 2000, Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and president of academic affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System and other researchers published the first study showing that intravenous ketamine relieved depression. Dr. Charney said, "This offers hope, in capital letters." Dr. Charney is a co-inventor on a patent on the use of ketamine as a depression treatment that has been licensed by Johnson & Johnson.
— Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, President, Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System
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