The health technology assessment (HTA) body in Scotland has accepted Janssen Pharmaceuticals’s Spravato (esketamine), after deciding that the first-of-a-kind nasal spray for difficult-to-treat depression is an acceptable use of the country’s National Health Service resources.
The advice by the Scottish Medicines Consortium that Spravato should be made available on NHS Scotland for adults with severe treatment-resistant depression (TRD) was announced on 7 September. It contrasts sharply with last week’s draft recommendation by the UK HTA body, NICE, which for the second time rejected Spravato for use on England’s NHS for the same indication, because of uncertainties over the product's clinical and cost effectiveness