The Food and Drug Administration FDA has approved suzetrigine a new type of painkiller that is non-opioid and therefore non-addictive for those taking it. The drug developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals–for which a prescription will be needed–will be sold under the brand name Journavx and comes in the form of a 50-milligram tablet to be taken by patients who need it every 12 hours after an initial higher dose. Suzetrigine is the first new painkiller approved in the United States in 25 years, or since 1998 when Celebrex, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, was approved.
Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a press release, “A new non-opioid analgesic therapeutic class for acute pain offers an opportunity to mitigate some of the risks associated with the use of an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option.” She added, “This action by the agency to expedite drug development and review underscores FDA’s commitment to approving safe and effective alternatives to opioids for pain management.”
As Vertex clarifies, suzetrigine works by blocking nerve pathways that transmit pain signals to the spinal cord, a mechanism different from the action of opioids, which instead act directly on the brain.
Sergio Bergese, anesthesiologist at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, explains how the new drug works. “Multiple parts of the body are involved in the sensation of pain,” he explains. Nerve cells carry an electrical signal from the site of tissue damage to the brain, which perceives the signal as pain. Unlike opioid drugs, which attenuate the sensation of pain in the brain, suzetrigine works by preventing nerves from signaling pain.” Also as Vertex Pharmaceuticals experts point out,suzetrigine does not cause a state of euphoria and addiction as opioids can sometimes do.
