Maina (UniTo): ‘Innovative, effective and fast esketamine antidepressant’

“Esketamine is not only a new drug, but it is also innovative. Its mechanism of action is in fact completely different from previous antidepressants, which enhance either the transmission of serotonin or dopamine or norepinephrine. Esketamine determines an immediate enhancement of glutamate. , a neurotransmitter that acts on a large portion of the brain and immediately promotes a series of brain changes, which explains the rapidity of action of the drug. ” Giuseppe Maina, full professor of psychiatry at the University of Turin and director of the psychiatry complex unit of the San Luigi Gonzaga hospital in Orbassano (Turin), said this at the press conference to present the new drug for the treatment of depression greater than Janssen, the Johnson & Johnson Group pharmaceutical company. “With the use of this drug – added the specialist – the abandonment of therapy is considerably reduced, since the person suffering from depression, who tends to be disheartened and pessimistic, notices the improvements almost immediately and this pushes him to continue therapy until complete recovery. Furthermore, therapeutic adherence is facilitated by the fact that esketamine must be administered in a clinic, hospital or doctor’s office and under the supervision of a psychiatrist or a nurse “, Maina said. “The efficacy shown by the studies that led to the approval of the drug by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicines Agency) – he concluded – is equal to 70-80%, an astounding figure. if you think that patients who are refractory to normal antidepressant drugs are undergoing this treatment “.