Ketamine and Pharma
- Jamie Sorenson
- Dec 27, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 13
The medical community knew about the antidepressant effects of ketamine in animal models starting in 1975. Why on earth did we not continue this research sooner to help treat depression more rapidly? Background info: 1) every molecule has a mirror image or enantiomer. Similar to how most people have a left hand and right hand. These enantiomers are called R- and S- ketamine. 2) The original ketamine is a mixture of both enantiomers and its patent ran out in 2002. This means the pharma company did not get any additional FDA approvals for treatment of depression because the drug went generic and became dirt cheap. Also, ketamine treatment is time limited whereas SSRIs and SNRIs are usually recommended to be lifelong medications. Pharma is definitely more incentivized to treat chronic disease instead of provide cures. 3) in 2019, Spravato received FDA approval for treatment of depression. All they did was isolate the S-enantiomer to get it FDA approved as a new medication that could make profit. Now they charge people out the wazoo for a medication that may not be any more effective or safer than the original ketamine. In fact, it may be that the R-enantiomer is the more effective one for depression and that’s the one they removed! We don’t have all the answers about ketamine at this time, but it sure is exciting to see this field grow. I just wish we could have used it sooner for the people who needed it. It can treat suicidality within 48-72 hours of administration, how many lives were lost to suicide while waiting for this medication to be approved?
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