A $2 million grant from the Federal Government has been awarded for research into use of the drug ketamine as a new treatment option for major depression, the largest clinical trial of its kind in Australia.

According to the Black Dog Institute, an organisation that focuses on mood disorders, about one third of people suffering from major depression do not respond to traditional anti-depressant medication.

“We need to properly test if we can use ketamine as a treatment over a whole course of multiple doses,”Professor Colleen Loo, who is leading the study from the University of New South Wales and the Black Dog Institute, said.

• #FOMO leading to depression, anxiety for teenagers
• More Aussies turning to addictive behaviours
• Consumer warning: be wary of antidepressants

“Is it effective and is it safe? We don’t actually have that data [and] this trial will answer that question.”

Ketamine is used in Australia as an anaesthetic and pain killer and can only be prescribed by a doctor. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not approved its use as a depression treatment.

The drug is also used recreationally and can lead to out-of-body experiences and a sense of intoxication.

“I think controversy surrounding ketamine [is that] it is used as a drug of abuse and so there are concerns, but if used in a carefully, controlled medical context, then that hasn’t been shown to be a problem,” Professor Loo told the ABC.

Earlier this year, an ABC investigation revealed a commercial medical clinic was selling unapproved take-home packages of ketamine for patients to self-inject.

“It’s one of these fields where the clinical application has run ahead of proper research testing,” Professor Loo said.

“Clinics have run ahead and actually started to treat people and to run it as a business, so that’s why this trial is so critical to do now and as quickly as we can.”

Trial involving 200 patients due to start April 2016

The trial is expected to start in April 2016, and will enrol 200 patients who have not responded to existing medication. The trial will compare the effects of ketamine against an active placebo treatment over the course of four weeks.

According to the university, previous studies have shown a single dose of the drug can reduce the symptoms of depression within hours, even in treatment-resistant patients.

“If you give a single treatment, the studies show that you get an amazing anti-depressant response that lasts at least a few days,” Professor Loo said.

“But what no study has shown is how can you use it as a clinically useful treatment to get a lasting response.”

The grant is a part of a $630 million investment from the Federal Government for more than 800 health and prevention of disease projects around the country.