Results from a recent study have demonstrated a significant reduction in depressive symptoms and suicidality using ketamine as a solo treatment.
Medical research company Braxia Scientific Corp. has reported its preliminary findings of a recent clinical study, suggesting that ketamine may be as effective as a standalone antidepressant, versus as an adjunctive therapy.
The study, which was conducted at the wholly-owned Braxia subsidiary, Canadian Rapid Treatment Centre of Excellence (CRTCE), showed comparable clinical benefits in a large sample of 220 patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) who received intravenous (IV) ketamine infusions as a monotherapy, as compared with those receiving IV ketamine in addition to oral antidepressants.
Braxia Scientific CEO, Dr Roger McIntyre, commented: “We continue to inform and refine treatment protocols on the implementation of ketamine for individuals with TRD.
“In many circumstances, persons who safely benefited from ketamine treatment were able to discontinue their ineffective conventional treatments and transition entirely to ketamine monotherapy.
“Additionally, this data further informs Braxia Scientific’s drug discovery and development, especially as it relates to the appropriate patient selection and enrolment for our clinical research studies.”
Braxia highlights that, following the study protocols, participants in the ketamine monotherapy group achieved response and remission rates of 39.1 per cent and 17.4 per cent, whilst those receiving ketamine treatment adjunct to antidepressants saw corresponding rates of 21.9 per cent and 6.7 per cent.
“Ketamine has been shown to provide rapid and significant antidepressant effects in individuals with unipolar and bipolar TRD, and can also rapidly reduce suicidal thoughts” said Dr Joshua Rosenblat, Braxia Scientific’s chief medical and scientific officer.
“While these findings are preliminary, they support the idea that ketamine is a highly effective rapid-acting antidepressant treatment approach as evidenced by its ability to improve depression as a monotherapy. This data is particularly important, because it shows that the benefits of ketamine may not be dependent on the co-prescription of other medications.
“The study provides real world evidence, from a large sample of persons treatment-seeking for TRD, that further advances the science and substantiates our research that ketamine is a safe, effective and rapid-acting treatment for depression, suicidality and other brain-based disorders.”
