A new type of non -opioid pain relievers, aimed at treating short -term pain in adults, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Suzetrigine medication, known under its daily mark, works by targeting pain signals before reaching the brain.
Its Vertex Pharmaceuticals manufacturer said it allowed him to offer effective relief for moderate to severe pain without “the addictive potential of opioids”.
The United States has been struggling with an analgesic crisis for years. In 2017, US President Trump described this as “national shame” and declared an emergency in public health.
The FDA said that clinical trials had shown that Jounavx reduced pain after surgery and qualified its approval as “an important stage in public health in acute pain management”.
Each year, tens of thousands of Americans die from an opioid consumption, with 82,000 overdose deaths involved in opioids in 2022, according to the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Now in his second term, President Trump said he would reach imports from Canada and Mexico with 25% of border taxes in part to approach the large quantities of fentanyl – a powerful synthetic opioid – crossing the country.
The president has also threatened to impose prices on China, citing exports of the country’s fentanyl as reason.
Opioids work by stimulating opioid receptors in the brain, blocking pain signals.
During the process, the brain also floods dopamine of neurotransmitters, creating feelings of euphoria and activating the brain reward system.
This makes opioids very addictive. Vertex estimates that almost 10% of patients with acute pain initially treated with an opioid will continue to use prolonged opioids.
But Journavx works in a different way, blocking pain signals before reaching the brain.
Vertex says that the drug is the first of a new class of pain medication to be approved in more than 20 years.
His head of management Reshma Kewalramani has described the approval of “historic milestone for the 80 million people in America who prescribe a drug for moderate to severe pain each year”.
Journavx will cost $ 15.50 (£ 12.50) per capsule, said the company, adding that it does not yet know if the medication “is safe and effective in children.”
