NRx Pharmaceuticals' Approach To Treating Depression And Suicide Ideation Brings Modern Solution To Centuries-Old Problem

August 26, 2025 at 11:10 AM EDT

By Meg Flippin Benzinga

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - August 26, 2025 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) - Dr. Jonathan Javitt, CEO of NRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: NRXP), was recently a guest on Benzinga’s All-Access.

NRx Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system disorders, specifically suicidal depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The company’s lead program, NRX-101, is an oral, fixed-dose combination of D-cycloserine and lurasidone, which targets the brain’s NMDA receptor.

Depression and suicide are centuries-old problems in need of modern-day treatments, and that’s what NRx believes it has with NRX-101 and NRX-100. Both drugs target the loss of neuroplasticity in the brain, which research has shown leads to depression and suicide ideation.

“Suicidality is the loss of plasticity in the brain,” Javitt told Benzinga during the interview, noting that a loss of plasticity causes frequent depressive states and is associated with PTSD and suicide depression. “All of these drugs we are so excited about, whether it's Kentamine, which is NRX-100, or D-cycloserine, which is NRX-101, upregulate neuroplasticity. It causes the brain to make new connections.”

NRX-100 just got Fast Track designation from the U.S. FDA for the treatment of suicidal ideation in patients with depression. The drug already has that FDA designation for the treatment of suicidal bipolar depression. Javitt said the new designation takes its potential market from about 1 million to the 13 million U.S. adults the CDC says consider suicide each year.

Outside of developing drugs to treat depression and suicide ideation, NRX is opening treatment clinics across the country through its HOPE Therapeutics subsidiary.

Watch the full interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFNU5Jr7g7A

Featured image from Shutterstock.

This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.

This content was originally published on Benzinga. Read further disclosures here.

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NRx Pharmaceuticals' Approach To Treating Depression And Suicide Ideation Brings Modern Solution To Centuries-Old Problem

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