The FDA on Thursday approved a new class of pain medication that provides an alternative to opioids. It will be sold under the brand name Journavx.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved JOURNAVX™ (suzetrigine), an oral, non-opioid, highly selective NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe acute pain.

Vertex has gained the FDA's approval for its non-addictive pain med Journavx, which becomes the first significant innovation in pain relief in more than two decades.