The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved a new non-opioid pill, Journavx, for treating moderate-to-severe acute pain in adults, the first drug of its kind to be approved in more than two decades.
The drug, manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, reduces pain by blocking pain signals in the peripheral nervous system, unlike opioid drugs—which relieve pain by binding to receptors on nerve cells in the brain and potentially lead to addiction.
The FDA said its approval was based on two randomized trials involving 874 adults who had acute pain due to abdominoplasty—also known as a “tummy tuck”—and a bunion surgery, which showed the drug significantly reduced pain compared to placebo….