October 23, 2026
The global pharmaceutical industry is witnessing a feverish race to develop treatments based on the anesthetic ketamine, after it emerged as a promising option for treating depression and psychological disorders, amid expectations of achieving huge profits in a growing market estimated at about $750 million.
According to what was reported by the American newspaper “The New York Times”, the pace of competition has accelerated with the move of the administration of US President Donald Trump towards supporting experimental treatments using hallucinogenic substances. This has prompted more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies to develop new products, including tablets, oral strips, and nasal sprays.
Through this race, companies seek to benefit from the commercial success of the drug “Spravato” developed by Johnson & Johnson, whose revenues are expected to reach $2.3 billion during the year 2026. The expiration of decades-old patent protection for ketamine also contributed to opening the way for the development of new formulations and uses at lower costs and greater speed in reaching markets.
At the forefront of this movement is the competing company “NRX Pharmaceuticals” with its drug “Ketafri”, which is free of a preservative that the company believes may harm human health. It announced an order to manufacture 5 million doses in preparation for marketing them without disclosing the price, at a time when the cost of a dose of generic ketamine does not exceed about one dollar, which raises concerns about the high prices of new drugs.
In the same context, Sulfonis Therapeutics is developing an oral strip designed to treat alcohol use disorder, while Freedom Biosciences is working to combine ketamine with a kidney cancer drug with the aim of prolonging its antidepressant effect. For its part, “Tasman Therapeutics” is developing an extended-release formulation that the patient can take at home, while “Eli Lilly” made a $3.5 billion offer to acquire “Atai Beckley.”
Despite these developments, specialists warn that using ketamine in isolation from psychotherapy sessions may reduce its effectiveness, stressing the necessity of treating psychological trauma to ensure sustainable results. These treatments also raise safety concerns due to the potential of the substance to cause feelings of disconnection from reality, as well as the presence of new products that are still in the clinical trial stages and have not yet received regulatory approval.
While developers are betting that modern formulations will contribute to reducing costs and facilitating access to treatment, the success of this market remains closely linked to proving effectiveness and safety, as well as providing integrated psychological care for patients.
