FDA approves first non-opioid pain reliever in over 20 years

At the end of January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Journavx (suzetrigine) as a treatment for moderate to severe acute pain in adults.

The drug belongs to a new class of medications that reduce pain by selectively blocking sodium channels in the peripheral nervous system before the pain signals reach the brain.

In the acute opioid crisis that has long plagued the USA, the development of non-opioid and non-addictive alternatives has been a priority issue.

"Today's approval is an important public health milestone in acute pain management. A new non-opioid analgesic therapeutic class for acute pain offers an opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with using an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option," said Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a statement.

Suzetrigine, developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, has been evaluated for safety and efficacy in a series of clinical studies. The most common side effects among study participants were itching, muscle spasms, elevated blood levels of creatine phosphokinase, and rash.