Study: Intravenous Ketamine Is a Rapid and Robust Treatment for Depression

Study results on outcomes of ketamine intravenous therapy (KIT) show that it a rapid and robust treatment for depression, health care technology company Osmind and Public Benefit Corporation, said in a statement.

The study, conducted by Stanford University School of Medicine, was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders and is the largest published analysis of KIT outcomes in community care settings to date.

In a subset of 537 individuals receiving KIT across 178 clinics, there was a 54% response rate and a 30% remission rate.

Approximately 40% of individuals with suicidal ideation at baseline no longer experienced this symptom after induction, and more than 70% of individuals experienced an overall improvement in suicidal ideation.

Antidepressant response to KIT was durable, and approximately 80% of individuals retained response at 4 weeks and 60% at 8 weeks, even without maintenance infusions.

This is the first of several studies planned for the Osmind Real-world Ketamine Analyses initiative. Follow-up studies will include clinical history and demographics across larger numbers of individuals treated with KIT over longer periods.

“Ketamine therapy for depression is rapidly changing the face of mental health care in the US,” Boris Heifets, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University, said in a statement. “The need for relief has far outstripped the academic community's ability to generate high quality prospective data on the ever-expanding variety of real-world therapeutic practices involving ketamine.”

“The innovation is now happening in the field. Our study is the largest of its kind to capture a snapshot of what real-world ketamine clinics are doing, and how their patients fare,” Heifets said.

“ I’m thrilled to have teamed up with Osmind to take a first look at such a large set of real-world outcomes, and I'm looking forward to digging deeper into what works, and for whom,” he said.

Large, real-world evidence (RWE) studies provide crucial evidence on efficacy and safety that can be used to advocate for better insurance coverage of, and patient access to, breakthrough treatments like KIT, the companies said in the statement.

“The RWE provided by this study represents a significant improvement over existing case series and anecdotal evidence regarding KIT for depression,” Alison McInnes, MD, MS, vice president of medical affairs at Osmind, said in the statement. “The response rate after 2 to 3 weeks of KIT outpaces standard antidepressant medications, which can take 6 to 8 weeks, and has comparable efficacy to transcranial magnetic stimulation, which is covered by insurance.”

Osmind makes efforts to obtain insurance coverage for breakthrough treatments, such as ketamine, and was selected by the nonprofit Ketamine Taskforce for Access to Safe Care and Insurance Coverage to be its technology partner.

A key pillar of Osmind’s mission is to foster the development of effective new treatments for moderate to severe mental health conditions and to help ensure robust access to care for individuals of all backgrounds.

The company plans to make its research open access when possible to help democratize critical knowledge and allow clinicians to make informed, real-time decisions for patients.

Reference

Osmind announces publication of the largest real-world analysis of ketamine infusion therapy for depression. Business Wire. News release. January 11, 2022. Accessed January 12, 2022. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220111005597/en