ICER chastises J&J for overpricing depression drug esketamine ‘where there is such need for treatment’

Cognizant of the myriad of approved antidepressants that often don’t work, regulators endorsed J&J’s $JNJ pharmaceutical version of the hallucinogenic anesthetic ketamine — esketamine — in March for treatment-resistant depression, well aware that the original cat tranquilizer is frequently used off-label for severe depression.