New Zealand Researchers Target Global Market with Breakthrough Ketamine Tablet

Professor Paul Glue and Douglas Pharmaceuticals develop R-107, a slow-release ketamine tablet designed to treat treatment-resistant depression at home.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 14, 2026, 2:52 AM EDT

Source: RNZ Pacific

From Anesthesia to Antidepressant

Ketamine was first approved as an anesthetic in the 1970s, but its psychiatric potential remained largely undiscovered until a landmark Yale study in 2000. Professor Paul Glue notes that ketamine’s effect on the glutamate system—the brain’s most common neurotransmitter—was a "revelation" that challenged long-standing skeptical views in psychiatry. Clinical trials in Dunedin and Christchurch have since shown that 60–70 percent of patients with stubborn depression, OCD, and PTSD respond positively to the drug, often within an hour of the first dose.

The Shift to Oral Dosing: R-107

While traditional ketamine injections are effective, they cause significant "dissociative" side effects, requiring patients to be monitored in clinics for hours. However, a 2016 study revealed that ketamine’s metabolites (the byproducts created as the liver breaks the drug down) are actually responsible for the antidepressant effects. This discovery led to the development of R-107, a slow-release tablet. Unlike injections, the tablet maintains high metabolite levels in the blood while minimizing the "spaced out" feeling, potentially allowing patients to take the medication safely at home once or twice a week.

Transformative Analysis: The Economics of Mental Health

The move toward an oral, at-home ketamine treatment represents a shift from high-cost clinical interventions to a more scalable public health model. Currently, many patients who fail standard treatments are discharged back to their GPs with few options. By commercializing R-107 through the San Francisco-based spin-out Tasman Therapeutics, New Zealand researchers are targeting the US market to secure the necessary investment for final clinical trials. If successful, this could reduce the burden on New Zealand’s primary care system, where an estimated one-third of depressed patients do not respond to conventional antidepressants.