The American drug supervisor FDA has approved a painkiller on Thursday that does not contain addictive opioids. This is the substance Suzetrigine, sold under the brand name Journavx. The last time in the US a new painkiller in this class was approved was 1998.
The medicine suppresses the pain by blocking signals in the peripheral nervous system, so that those pain signals do not reach the brain. The hope is that the new pill considerably reduces the American dependence on addictive opioids for pain relief. Acting FDA chief of drug research Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay speaks in a press release of a “milestone in the treatment of acute pain.”
The drug must offer a ‘safe and effective’ alternative to strong opioid painkiller, such as fentanyl and oxycodone, who have led to an epidemic of addictions in the US. A crisis that demands more lives than the firearm violence and all car accidents added together. 40 million Americans are still prescribed opioids annually, according to Research by Vertexthe company that developed the new drug.
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Where opioids dull the pain perception in the brain itself, Suzetrigine ensures that the nerves no longer send the signals to the brain, by blocking a so -called sodium channel that sends pain signals. In addition, in contrast to some opioids, no ‘high’, which means that there is no addictive effect of the medicine.