The food and medication administration approved on Thursday “Journavx” of VERTEX Pharmaceuticals, giving green light to the non -opioid analgesic to treat moderate to severe pain in what the FDA considered the beginning of a new class of non -addictive medications.
Key data
The FDA approved Journavx for adults with moderate to severe pain after accelerating the development and review of the medication.
The analgesic, which has a high price of $ 15.50 per pill, blocks the pain signs before they reach the brain, unlike opioids that reduce pain by joining the brain receptors and create the risk of addiction .
The acute pain that can be treated with Journavx has often treated with analgesics that may contain opioids, according to the FDA.
What are the side effects of Journavx?
The commonly reported side effects of Journavx include nausea, rashes, itching, headache, constipation and muscle spasms.
What to keep in mind
VERTEX plans to carry out a last stage study of Journavx that could lead to the approval of the chronic pain medication, which the FDA defines as the pain that “persists for more than three months or the pain that lasts more than a month beyond the normal healing time ”.
Large number
One billion dollars. That is the figure that Wall Street analysts have estimated that the analgesic could generate in annual sales.
Key history
Journavx’s approval marks a significant advance in the search for alternatives to opioids, something that has been sought as opioid use has caused a wave of drug addictions and overdose between the American public. Opioid -related deaths totaled 80,816 in 2021, almost 11,000 more than in 2020, according to disease control and prevention centers. In 2020, it is estimated that 2.7 million people over 11 years had an opioid consumption disorder in the last 12 months, according to the National Survey on Drug and Health Consumption of 2020.
This article was originally published by Forbes Us.
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