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Johnson & Johnson · Esketamine Hydrochloride

Spravato: patented from NIH-funded research, then Medicare paid $128M for it in 2024

NIH (its own scientists) reported 2 patents on this drug to NIH as inventions made with NIH grant money. Janssen Pharmaceuticals lists them with the FDA as protecting Spravato.
Patent reported to NIH as grant-funded

Medicare paid, 2024

$128M

before rebates

Medicare, 2020–2024

$313M

$23K per patient in 2024

Medicaid paid, 2024

$171M

before rebates

NIH grants behind the patents

$56M

whole-grant totals, not the drug's cost

The public record, link by link

  1. 1 · Public money

    2 NIH grants to National Institute of Mental Health, $56M in all.

  2. 2 · Patent

    8785500, 9592207, reported to NIH under Z01MH002857, ZIAMH002857.

  3. 3 · FDA approval

    Approved Mar 5, 2019, held by Janssen Pharmaceuticals (NDA 211243).

  4. 4 · Public pays

    Medicare paid $128M in 2024 for 5,542 patients; Medicaid $171M.

What Medicare paid for Spravato

Medicare Part D and Part B gross spending by year, before manufacturer rebates.
2020: $22M20202021: $33M20212022: $50M20222023: $80M20232024: $128M2024: $128M2024

The grants

Totals are everything NIH paid on each grant since 1985. A grant usually funded more than this one invention.
GrantResearchYearsNIH paid
ZIAMH002857

NIMH, NIH's own lab

Glutamatergic Modulators for Rapid and Sustained Antidepressant Effect

National Institute of Mental Health

2009–2025$55M
Z01MH002857

NIMH, NIH's own lab

Glutamatergic Modulators for Rapid & Sustained Antidepressant Effect

National Institute of Mental Health

2005–2008$621K

The patents

Patents the FDA lists for this drug that were also reported to NIH as grant-funded inventions.
  • US 8785500

    Intranasal Ketamine for the treatment of depression

    Reported by NIH (its own scientists)

    FDA-listed expiry Mar 5, 2033
  • US 9592207

    Intranasal Administration of Ketamine to Treat Depression

    Reported by NIH (its own scientists)

    FDA-listed expiry Mar 20, 2027

Johnson & Johnson's side

Drug makers pay for the clinical trials that take a compound from the lab to FDA approval, and they often license the patent from the university and pay royalties on sales. Those terms are not public. The FDA's approval records for Spravato are linked above, and Johnson & Johnson's page shows its other drugs on this list. If Johnson & Johnson wants to add its account, we will publish it here.

How this is built. Universities and companies that use NIH grants must report the inventions those grants produce to NIH, under the Bayh-Dole Act. NIH publishes the patent numbers and the grants they were reported under. We match those patents to the patents drug makers list with the FDA for each approved drug (the Orange Book), then add what Medicare Part D, Part B and Medicaid paid for each drug. Only patents still listed with the FDA appear, so drugs whose patents have expired drop out, and biologics, which the Orange Book does not cover, are not here yet.

What the numbers mean. "NIH grants" is everything NIH paid out on the grants a patent was reported under, from 1985 on. A grant usually paid for more than the one invention, so it is not the cost of the drug. Medicare and Medicaid figures are gross spending before the rebates drug makers pay back, which are confidential. Companies also paid for the clinical trials that took these drugs to approval; each drug page links the company's own filings.

Sources: NIH RePORTER patents reported under NIH grants (from iEdison); NIH RePORTER project funding; FDA Orange Book patent and product files; Medicare Part D Spending by Drug; Medicare Part B Spending by Drug; Medicaid Spending by Drug. Updated 2026-11-05.