New non-opioid painkiller approved by US health agency

A new type of non-opioid painkiller, aimed at treating short-term pain in 
adults, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The drug suzetrigine, known by its brand name Journavx, works by targeting 
pain signals before they reach the brain.

Its manufacturer Vertex Pharmaceuticals said this enables it to provide 
effective relief for moderate to severe pain without "the addictive 
potential of opioids".

The US has been grappling with a painkiller-addiction crisis for years. In 
2017 US President Trump called it a "national shame" and declared a public 
health emergency .

The FDA said clinical trials had showed that Jounavx reduced pain after 
surgery, and called its approval "an important public health milestone in 
acute pain management".

Every year, tens of thousands of Americans die from opioid use, with 
82,000 opioid-involved overdose deaths in 2022, according to the US Center 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Now in his second term, President Trump has said he will hit imports from 
Canada and Mexico with 25% border taxes in part to address the large 
amounts of fentanyl - a powerful synthetic opioid - crossing into the 
country.

The president has also threatened to impose tariffs on China, citing the 
country's fentanyl exports as a reason.

Opioids work by stimulating opioid receptors in the brain, blocking pain 
signals.

During the process, the brain also floods with the neurotransmitter 
dopamine, creating feelings of euphoria and activating the brain's reward 
system.

This makes opioids highly addictive. Vertex estimates nearly 10% of acute 
pain patients treated initially with an opioid will go on to have 
prolonged opioid use.

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But Journavx works in a different way, by blocking pain signals before 
they reach the brain.

Vertex says the drug is the first in a new class of pain medicine to be 
approved in more than 20 years.

Its chief executive Reshma Kewalramani called the approval an "historic 
milestone for the 80 million people in America who are prescribed a 
medicine for moderate-to-severe acute pain each year".

Journavx will cost $15.50 (£12.50) per capsule, the company said, adding 
it is not yet known whether the drug "is safe and effective in children".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3vp15wx6rlo