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New medications for treatment-resistant depression: a brief review of recent developments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2018

Michael E. Thase
Michael E. Thase*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Michael E. Thase, MD, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Suite 670, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. (Email: thase@pennmedicine.upenn.edu)
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Abstract

There is a great unmet need for new medications with novel mechanisms of action that can effectively treat patients who do not benefit from standard antidepressant therapies. After a period in which it seemed as if the pharmaceutical pipeline for new antidepressants was going dry, the past decade has witnessed renewed interest, beginning with discovery of the antidepressant effects of ketamine. This article briefly highlights more recent research on ketamine and other investigational antidepressants.

Keywords

ALKS-5461esketamineinvestigational antidepressantsketaminerapastineltreatment-resistant depressiontherapies
Type
CME Review Article
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 22 , Supplement S1: CME SUPPLEMENT , December 2017 , pp. 39 - 48
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

This activity is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Alkermes.

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