Ketamine-like drug for depression could get UK licence within the year

Esketamine could initially become available through private clinics but potential side effects raise concerns

A ketamine-like drug that could be licensed in the UK as soon as November could transform treatment for severe depression, one of the country's leading psychiatrists has said.

The drug, called esketamine, which is administered through a nasal spray, would be one of the first "rapid acting" drugs for depression and the first drug in decades to target a new brain pathway.