The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded approval for Johnson & Johnson’s nasal spray, Spravato, to allow it to be used as a standalone treatment for patients with severe depression, the company said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Johnson & Johnson's ketamine-based nasal spray Spravato to treat adults with major depressive disorder, the company said on Tuesday. The approval paves the way for use of Spravato in patients whose disease has stopped responding to at least two oral anti-depressants.

Johnson & Johnson has announced the FDA’s approval of a first-of-its-kind, esketamine nasal spray called Spravato for the standalone treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), PTSD, and similar psychiatric conditions.

Respondents who said they used other drugs recreationally were also likelier to say they used ketamine during the past year than those who reported no past-year drug use.

"Treatment-resistant depression can be very complicated, especially for patients who do not respond to oral antidepressants or cannot tolerate them. For too long, health care providers have had few options to offer patients much-needed symptom improvement,

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a nasal spray that is known to help treat depression.

A multidisciplinary approach, including ketamine withdrawal and symptom management, is essential to mitigate long-term complications.

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It is a hallucinogenic drug, and is a controlled substance designed for use as an aesthetics. It also has now been touted for its potential as a therapy for depression.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Spravato, a nasal spray developed by Johnson & Johnson, as a standalone treatment for adults with major depressive disorder who have not responded to at least two other antidepressants.

The following is a summary of “Intranasal racemic ketamine maintenance therapy for patients with treatment-resistant depression: a naturalistic feasibility study,” published in the January 2025 issue of Psychiatry by Halpape et al.