The drug, suzetrigine, made by Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals and to be sold as Journavx, works only on nerves outside the brain, blocking pain signals. It cannot get into the brain. The post FDA approves drug from Boston-based company to treat pain without opioid effects appeared first on Boston.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. gained US approval for the first new type of painkiller in more than two decades, paving the way for a safer alternative to addictive opioids that have been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

The FDA on Thursday approved a new class of pain medication that provides an alternative to opioids. It will be sold under the brand name Journavx.

The prescription pills, sold under the brand name Journavx and made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, are taken twice a day and represent the first new class of pain medications in 20 years—and the first non-opioid painkiller since that class first appeared on the market in the 1980s.

The drug, shown to be almost as effective as opioids for short-term pain, is the first fundamentally new kind of painkiller to win FDA approval in more than 20 years.

The FDA’s nod for suzetrigine bolsters confidence in the pharmaceutical industry’s strategy to target sodium channels.

A non-opioid pain medication made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals has received approval for adults from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Despite high demand for an option like Journavx, doctors fear the drug’s price could be a hangup for insurers and limit patients’ ability to access it.

A new drug approved Thursday by the FDA offers pain management but is not addictive. Unlike opioids, it treats pain signals outside the brain. The first new class of non-opioid painkillers in more than two decades was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the agency said Thursday.