(esketamine)
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Last Updated: 06/22/2023
The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) was used to assess potential suicidal ideation and behavior during the SPRAVATO clinical trial program. It is a clinical interview providing a summary of both suicidal ideation and behavior that can be administered during any evaluation or risk assessment to identify the level and type of suicidality present.11
The overall incidence of TEAEs of suicidality in completed phase 3 studies is summarized in Table: Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events of Suicidality in Phase 3 Studies in TRD
Study | SPRAVATO (28 mg, 56 mg, or 84 mg) + AD (%, n/N) | AD+PBO (%, n/N) |
---|---|---|
Pooled TRANSFORM-1/2 | 0.9 (3/346) | 0.9 (2/222) |
TRANSFORM-3 | 1.4 (1/72) | - |
SUSTAIN-1 | ||
IND Phase | 1.1 (5/437) | N/A |
OP Phase | 0.2 (1/455) | - |
MA Phase | 2.0 (3/152) | 0.7 (1/145) |
SUSTAIN-2 | ||
IND Phase | 2.4 (19/779) | N/A |
OP/MA | 3.8 (23/603) | N/A |
Abbreviations: AD, oral antidepressant; IND, induction; MA, maintenance; N/A, not applicable; OP, optimization; PBO, placebo.aTEAEs of suicidality includes completed suicide, depression suicidal, intentional overdose, intentional self-injury, multiple drug overdose intentional, poisoning deliberate, self-injurious behaviour, self-injurious ideation, suicidal behaviour, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt. Incidence is based on the number of subjects experiencing at least one adverse event, not the number of events.Note: TRANSFORM-1 and TRANSFORM-2 were short-term, double-blind, 4-week studies in patients <65 years of age who received treatment twice a week (TRANSFORM-1 was fixed-dose and TRANSFORM-2 was flexible-dose); the table reports pooled results from both studies; TRANSFORM-3 was a short-term, double-blind, flexible-dose, 4-week study in patients ≥65 years who received treatment twice a week. SUSTAIN-1 was a long-term, randomized withdrawal study to assess the efficacy of flexibly-dosed SPRAVATO+AD compared with AD+PBO in delaying relapse of depressive symptoms in patients with TRD who were stable responders and remitters after an initial 16 weeks of treatment with SPRAVATO+AD. Patients received treatment twice a week during the initial 4 weeks (induction phase), weekly for the next 4 weeks, and then once every 2 weeks or weekly thereafter (optimization phase was the following 12 weeks followed by the maintenance phase). SUSTAIN-2 was an open-label, flexibly-dosed study to evaluate the long-term safety of SPRAVATO+AD. Patients received treatment twice a week for the first 4 weeks (induction phase), weekly for the next 4 weeks, and then once every 2 weeks or weekly thereafter (48-week optimization/maintenance phase). Note: no comparator data is available based on the open-label design. |
In the phase 3 trials of SPRAVATO in TRD,3-5, 8, 9 between 25% and 37% of patients across studies/treatment groups had a lifetime history of suicidal ideation, and 14% to 19% had a lifetime history of suicidal behavior prior to screening.11
During the double-blind period of phase 3 clinical trials of SPRAVATO in TRD,3-5, 8 the proportion of patients with no suicidal ideation at baseline who went on to report suicidal ideation at any time point postbaseline was similar in the SPRAVATO+AD group and in the AD+PBO group.10 See table: Postbaseline Reported Treatment-Emergent Suicidal Ideation (Based On C-SSRS) in Patients with No Ideation at Baseline.
Study | SPRAVATO (28 mg, 56 mg, or 84 mg) + AD (%, n/N) | AD+PBO (%, n/N) |
---|---|---|
Pooled TRANSFORM-1/2 | 10.2 (26/254) | 12.3 (20/162) |
TRANSFORM-3 | 13.8 (8/58) | 16.7 (9/54) |
SUSTAIN-1 | ||
IND Phase | 11.3 (41/362) | N/A |
OP Phase | 5.7 (22/387) | - |
MA Phase | 2.4 (3/126) | 4.5 (6/133) |
SUSTAIN-2 | ||
IND Phase | 11.1 (71/637) | N/A |
OP/MA | 11.6 (59/509) | N/A |
Abbreviations: AD, oral antidepressant; IND, induction; MA, maintenance; N/A; not applicable; OP, optimization; PBO, placebo. aFor each study, each subject is counted only once in the above table, based on the most severe postbaseline C-SSRS category Note: TRANSFORM-1 and TRANSFORM-2 were short-term, double-blind, 4-week studies in patients <65 years of age who received treatment twice a week (1 was fixed-dose and 2 was flexible-dose); the table reports pooled results from both studies; TRANSFORM-3 was a short-term, double-blind, flexible-dose, 4-week study in patients ≥65 years who received treatment twice a week. SUSTAIN-1 was a long-term, randomized withdrawal study to assess the efficacy of flexibly-dosed SPRAVATO+AD compared with AD+PBO in delaying relapse of depressive symptoms in patients with TRD who were stable responders and remitters after an initial 16 weeks of treatment with SPRAVATO+AD. Patients received treatment twice a week during the initial 4 weeks (induction phase), weekly for the next 4 weeks, and then once every 2 weeks or weekly thereafter (optimization phase was the following 12 weeks followed by the maintenance phase). SUSTAIN-2 was an open-label, flexibly-dosed study to evaluate the long-term safety of SPRAVATO+AD. Patients received treatment twice a week for the first 4 weeks (induction phase), weekly for the next 4 weeks, and then once every 2 weeks or weekly thereafter (48-week optimization/maintenance phase). Note: No comparator data is available based on the open-label design. |
In patients who did not have suicidal ideation or behavior at baseline across the phase 3 trials, 5 patients treated with SPRAVATO+AD were assessed to have suicidal behavior at any time postbaseline:10
In patients who had suicidal ideation at baseline, 5 were observed to have postbaseline suicidal behavior:
All patients who reported suicidal behavior during the phase 3 trials based on C-SSRS had a lifetime history of suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior.11
Although death by suicide is always tragic, in the SPRAVATO TRD development program, the suicide completion rate (0.49 per 100 patient-years of treatment) was comparable to the background rate of 0.47 (95% CI: 0.22–1.00) completed suicides per 100 patient-years reported in a different study in a TRD population.16
There have been 3 completed suicides in the SPRAVATO clinical program for TRD, including in an ongoing phase 3 trial.6, 10, 11 See table: Serious Adverse Events of Completed Suicides in Clinical Studies of SPRAVATO in TRD
Study | Age (years) /Gender | Narrative | Investigator’s Assessment of Relationship to SPRAVATO |
---|---|---|---|
SYNAPSE (Phase 2 Adjunctive Trial) | 41; male | Died due to a completed suicide on day 45, 20 days after receiving the last dose of study medication during the follow-up phase. During the 2-week double-blind treatment phase, the patient was in the placebo/esketamine 14-mg group, and during the OL phase he received 4 doses of SPRAVATO 56 mg.11 | Not related |
SUSTAIN-2 (Phase 3, long-term, open label safety trial) | 55; female | Died as a result of suicide (i.e., overdosed with zolpidem and oxazepam) on day 188, 12 days after receiving the last dose of SPRAVATO 84 mg. Of note, there were psychosocial stressors that were subsequently reported to have preceded the suicide.11, 18 | Not related |
SUSTAIN-3 (ongoing, long-term, open-label safety extension trial) | 48; male | Died due to a completed suicide in an ongoing open label safety extension study on day 26 of the induction phase. The patient had been receiving SPRAVATO 84 mg with the last dose administered 4 days prior to the event.11 | Not related |
Safety data of interest were gathered from REMS patient monitoring forms completed by certified US healthcare settings and pharmacies and a separate SPRAVATO global medical safety database (which includes AEs reported from the REMS) from 5 March 2019 to 5 January 2023.12 Of the 2437 serious adverse events, suicidal ideation was reported in 10.2% (N=249) of cases. There were 47 (0.14%) completed suicides among the 34,110 patients treated. For comparison, the rate of completed suicide was estimated to be 0.95% in a similar real-world epidemiological study of patients with TRD (n = 15,013) who were treated for an average of 4.2 years.20
An analysis was conducted using the FAERS to identify relevant safety signals for SPRAVATO.13 A case/non-case study design was utilized in which cases were defined by reports about SPRAVATO, while non-cases were represented by AEs recorded for all other drugs in FAERS over the first year of SPRAVATO approval. If the proportion of AEs of interest was greater in cases versus non-cases, then this was considered a disproportionality signal. AEs were classified into four categories, according to their predictability: expected AEs with a detected signal, expected AEs without a signal, disease-related AEs, or unexpected AEs.
There was a total of 2274 SPRAVATO-related AEs in 962 patients with 389 serious AEs. Suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and completed suicides were identified as disease-related adverse events (see Table: Suicide-related Adverse Events).
Adverse Event | n | Reporting Odds Ratio (95% CI) | Bayesian Information Component (95% CI) |
---|---|---|---|
Suicidal ideation | 64 | 24.03 (18.72 to 30.84) | 4.31 (3.9 to 4.61) |
Suicidal attempt | 6 | 3.75 (1.68 to 8.35) | 1.63 (0.21 to 2.54) |
Completed suicide | 11 | 5.75 (3.18 to 10.41) | 2.25 (1.23 to 2.94) |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval. |
The authors noted that the results must be interpreted with caution, partly due to the FAERS database having limitations, including the inability to infer causality, barriers to reporting, limitations in the quality of information received, and the inability to calculate an incidence rate due to a lack of a denominator.13 Furthermore, the FAERS does not include information on the patients’ baseline suicidality and illness severity (which are important risk factors for suicide-related AEs).21
A literature search of MEDLINE®
1 | Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Summary Review. NDA 211243 - SPRAVATO (esketamine) - Reference ID: 4398871. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/2019/211243Orig1s000SumR.pdf. Published July 5, 2019. Accessed June 07, 2023. |
2 | U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Suicidality in children and adolescents being treated with antidepressant medications. February 05, 2018. Available from: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/suicidality-children-and-adolescents-being-treated-antidepressant-medications. Accessed June 07, 2023. |
3 | Fedgchin M, Trivedi M, Daly E, et al. Efficacy and safety of fixed-dose esketamine nasal spray combined with a new oral antidepressant in treatment-resistant depression: results of a randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study (TRANSFORM-1). Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2019;22(10):616-630. |
4 | Popova V, Daly EJ, Trivedi M, et al. Efficacy and safety of flexibly dosed esketamine nasal spray combined with a newly initiated oral antidepressant in treatment-resistant depression: a randomized double-blind active-controlled study. Am J Psychiatry. 2019;176(6):428-438. |
5 | Daly EJ, Trivedi MH, Janik A, et al. Efficacy of esketamine nasal spray plus oral antidepressant treatment for relapse prevention in patients with treatment-resistant depression: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76(9):893-903. |
6 | (CHMP) Commitee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. SPRAVATO assessment report. Procedure No. EMEA/H/C/004535/0000. European Medicines Agency (EMA); November 2019. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/assessment-report/spravato-epar-public-assessment-report_en.pdf. Accessed June 07, 2023. |
7 | Daly EJ, Singh JB, Fedgchin M, et al. Efficacy and safety of intranasal esketamine adjunctive to oral antidepressant therapy in treatment-resistant depression: results of a double-blind, doubly-randomized, placebo-controlled study. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018;75(2):139-148. |
8 | Ochs-Ross R, Daly EJ, Zhang Y, et al. Efficacy and safety of esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant in elderly patients with treatment-resistant depression - TRANSFORM-3. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020;28(2):121-141. |
9 | Wajs E, Aluisio L, Holder R, et al. Esketamine nasal spray plus oral antidepressant in patients with treatment-resistant depression: assessment of long-term safety in a phase 3, open-label study (SUSTAIN-2). J Clin Psychiatry. 2020;81(3):19m12891. |
10 | Popova V. Suicide Ideation and Behavior. Janssen Presentations - Joint Meeting of the Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. February 12, 2019. https://public4.pagefreezer.com/browse/FDA/04-03-2022T19:30/https://www.fda.gov/media/121379/download. |
11 | Data on File. Esketamine. Integrated Summary of Safety - TRD. Janssen Research & Development, LLC. EDMS-ERI-155147726. 2018. |
12 | Bowery H, Turkoz I, Doherty T, et al. Real-world use of esketamine nasal spray at 46 months: characterizing healthcare settings, prescribers, pharmacies, patients, and key safety data. Poster presented at: Psych Congress Elevate; June 1-4, 2023; Las Vegas, NV. |
13 | Gastaldon C, Raschi E, Kane JM, et al. Post-marketing safety concerns with esketamine: a disproportionality analysis of spontaneous reports submitted to the FDA adverse event reporting system. Psychother Psychosom. 2021;90(1):41-48. |
14 | SPRAVATO (esketamine nasal spray) [Prescribing Information]. Titusville, NJ: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc; https://imedicalknowledge.veevavault.com/ui/approved_viewer?token=7994-21c864d4-b928-49c5-b101-4d34e95f2be3. |
15 | Ochs-Ross R, Daly EJ, Zhang Y, et al. Supplement to: Efficacy and safety of esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant in elderly patients with treatment-resistant depression-TRANSFORM-3. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020;28(2):121-141. |
16 | Bergfeld IO, Mantione M, Figee M, et al. Treatment-resistant depression and suicidality. J Affect Discord. 2018;235:362-367. |
17 | Drevets W, Singh JB, Hough D et al. Letter to the editor: Comment on a word to the wise about intranasal esketamine. Am J Psychiatry. 2019;176(10):856-857. |
18 | Data on File. Esketamine. Clinical Study Report ESKETINTRD3004. Janssen Research & Development, LLC. EDMS-ERI-146551506. 2018. |
19 | Data on File. Esketamine. Clinical Study Report ESKETINTRD3002. Janssen Research & Development, LLC. EDMS-ERI-149600979. 2018. |
20 | Reutfors J Andersson TML, Brenner P, et al. Mortality in treatment-resistant unipolar depression: a register-based cohort study in sweden. J Affect Disord. 2018;238:674-679. |
21 | Doherty T, Daly EJ, Miller J, et al. Letter to the editor: Comments to Drs. Gastaldon, Raschi, Kane, Barbui, and Schoretsanitis. Psychother Psychosom. 2020;90:138-139. |